DES MOINES - Mitt Romney yesterday denied any responsibility for hiring illegal immigrants as workers at his Massachusetts home, insisting it was the fault of contractors and calling for tighter federal guidelines to verify the status of workers.
Asked whether he shouldn't go the "extra mile" because of his business background and his strong advocacy of clamping down on illegal immigration in his presidential bid, the former Massachusetts governor shot back: "And what's the extra mile? So for instance, if I go to a restaurant, do I make sure all the waiters there are all legal?"
"We have a country where there's not an employment verification system that allows companies to know who's in the country legally and illegally," he said, responding to Globe reports this week that undocumented yard workers and painters engaged in work at his Massachusetts home.
"And I've certainly never proposed that homeowners have a responsibility when they hire a contractor or company to then go out and inquire of the company's employees whether they happen to be legal or not."
Romney also launched a new TV ad in Iowa yesterday in which he brags about actions as Massachusetts governor that were not "politically correct."
The announcer cites his opposition to abortion, his support of English in the classroom, and his effort to ban gay marriage, but the ad does not mention that Romney once supported abortion rights.
Romney also told reporters that his speech Thursday on "Faith in America" was about just that and was not intended to build support for his campaign among conservative Christians.
"The speech was not about politics. I don't know how the politics work on it, to tell you the truth," he said.
Romney is battling with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee for the support of religious conservatives in Iowa, which holds the first nomination contest on Jan. 3. Romney had been leading for months, but a new Newsweek poll out yesterday said that Huckabee has surged into a 39 percent to 17 percent lead over Romney.
In its last survey, in September, Huckabee only had 6 percent compared with Romney's 25 percent, Newsweek reported on its website.
Other recent polls, however, have shown a much tighter race between Huckabee and Romney. The Newsweek poll, conducted Wednesday and Thursday, included 275 likely Republican caucus-goers and has a margin of error of plus or minus 7 percentage points, which means Huckabee's lead could be as small as 8 percentage points.
GLOBE STAFF AND ASSOCIATED PRESS
