Thompson Attacks Rivals on Immigration

ABC News’ Christine Byun Reports: Republican candidate Fred Thompson lashed out at his GOP rivals Thursday, accusing former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney of being soft on illegal immigration.

While fundraising and picking up two endorsements in Georgia, Thompson continued to go on the offensive, asserting that he is the GOP candidate with the strongest, most steady stance on outlawing sanctuary policies which forbid city officials and local police from asking people their immigration status.

"I was a conservative then. I am a conservative today, and I’ll be a conservative tomorrow. I was walking the walk when others weren’t even talking the talk yet," Thompson said, using his 1996 senate-voting record as an example.

Thompson, who has blogged about this subject before, has said those protected in sanctuary cities "need to knock, identify themselves, and ask permission first" to gain U.S. citizenship status. Thompson accused Romney of not being vocal enough about the subject and said Giuliani supported such cities.

Both candidates’ parties offered statements to knock down Thompson’s accusations. "Governor Romney has been the strongest candidate when it comes to insisting that our immigration laws are enforced. The governor has prominently criticized sanctuary city policies and has even proposed ending federal funding to cities that don’t enforce federal immigration laws," Romney Spokesman Kevin Madden said in a statement.

Giuliani’s camp also lashed back, accusing Thompson of having a shaky record on immigration and said the candidate must be "missing a few pages from his screenplay," making reference to Thompson’s career as an actor. "Mayor Giuliani, on the other hand, fought to kick criminal illegals out of the U.S and cut New York’s crime rate in half," spokesman Elliot Bundy said in an email.