Newt Gingrich may have taken the most controversial position on immigration in the Republican presidential campaign when he conceded that mass deportation is not the only solution for dealing with the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
The former U.S. House speaker said during Tuesday's debate that he would support allowing some undocumented immigrants to remain in the country.
"I do not believe that people of the United States are going to take people who have been here a quarter century, who have children and grandchildren, who are members of the community, who may have done something 25 years ago, (and) separate them from their families, and expel them," Gingrich said.
It was the first discernible break from his GOP rivals on immigration policy. The other candidates have said they would not support giving any degree of amnesty to illegal residents. Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney both criticized Gingrich's moderate stance during the debate.
"I don't see how the party that says it's the party of the family is going to adopt an immigration policy which destroys families that have been here a quarter century," Gingrich said. "And I'm prepared to take the heat for saying, let's be humane in enforcing the law without giving them citizenship but finding a way to create legality so they are not separated from their families."
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