Giuliani Vows to End Illegal Immigration

"Frankly, that designation would not apply to New York City," responded Giuliani. "What you got to look at in fairness to is the overall results – and no city in terms of crime, safety, dealing with illegality of all different kinds has done a better job than New York City."

In 1996 while mayor, Giuliani sued the federal government for new provisions in federal immigration laws that would encourage government employees to turn in illegal immigrants seeking benefits from the city.

Giuliani said educating the children of illegal immigrants made sense. "The reality is that they are here, and they're going to remain here. The choice becomes for a city what do you do? Allow them to stay on the streets or allow them to be educated? The preferred choice from the point of view of New York City is to be educated."

Romney, who toured the U.S.-Mexico border Monday, is determined to make this a major issue he wields against Giuliani, who leads in national polls but is behind Romney in first-in-the-nation caucus state Iowa.

Sanctuary Cities Under Romney

But Giuliani's campaign said that Romney's aggressive charge on this issue is inconsistent with Romney's record. While governor of Massachusetts from 2003 until 2007, three cities in Romney's home state – Somerville, Cambridge, and Orleans -- either declared or reissued declarations stating that they are in essence sanctuary cities.

"Why should the American people believe Gov. Romney has the right kind of executive experience for America when he claims he was powerless to take action against the three sanctuary cities in Massachusetts who refused to enforce illegal immigration laws?" asked Jim Dyke, a senior Giuliani campaign strategist. "If there were 'statutes' or 'formulas' standing in Romney's way, then why didn't he take action to change them?"

But it isn't only his Republican opponents who question Romney's sincerity on this issue.

"Romney's being a hypocrite on this issue," said Joseph Curtatone, the Democratic mayor of Somerville since 2004. "I did not receive any mandate, any communication, anything at all from him about this. If it's so important to him why didn't he have the state police enforcing it?"

Curtatone, president of the Massachusetts Mayors Association, adds that his May 2006 declaration of Somerville as a "city of hope" committed to providing services to illegal immigrants was just official recognition of what exists everywhere in his state.

"I don't know of any community in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts -- whether by official declaration or by their action -- who has not adopted the same policy," he said. I never heard Gov. Romney bring it up one way or another."