ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Rudy Giuliani accused chief rival Mitt Romney of running a “sanctuary mansion” – with illegal immigrant workers at his own house – as the two waged a war of words in last night’s lively Republican debate.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, started the fight by charging that Giuliani made New York a “sanctuary city” that provided services to illegal immigrants.
Giuliani struck back with a surprise punch – laying the illegal-immigrant issue right at Romney’s own doorstep.
“In his case,” Giuliani said of Romney, “there were six sanctuary cities [in Massachusetts]. He did nothing about them.”
“There was even a sanctuary mansion. At his own home, illegal immigrants were being employed . . . That is a pretty serious thing. They were under your nose.”
Romney responded that he hired a contractor to do the work, and a homeowner shouldn’t be expected to ask a worker to show his papers.
The Boston Globe has reported Romney had landscapers at his Belmont, Mass., home who turned out to be in the country illegally.
Romney said that as governor, he opposed providing driver’s license to illegals and college tuition breaks to their kids, in contrast with Giuliani’s policy in New York City.
“It called itself a sanctuary city,” Romney said.
“And, as a matter of fact, when the welfare-reform act that President Clinton brought forward said they were going to end the sanctuary policy of New York City, the mayor actually brought a suit to maintain its sanctuary-city status.”
Romney also cited comments Giuliani made as mayor, where he said he would protect illegals.
“That’s the wrong attitude. Instead, we should say if you’re here illegally, you should not be here. We’re not going to give you benefits,” Romney said.
Giuliani – who accused Romney of a “holier-than-thou attitude” on the topic – insisted that the Big Apple was not a sanctuary city, although illegals could go to school, get medical care and report crimes without fear of being deported.
Later, Fred Thompson took a veiled shot at Giuliani for promoting pal and disgraced NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik to be homeland-security director.
“I am a little surprised the mayor says, you know, everybody’s responsible for everybody that they hire,” he said.
Meanwhile, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton injected herself into last night’s GOP debate.
Keith Kerr, a retired U.S. Army colonel who had submitted a YouTube question about gays in the military, is a member of Clinton’s steering committee.
During CNN’s postdebate coverage, moderator Anderson Cooper acknowledged that organizers did not know Kerr has a position within the Clinton campaign and that, had they known, they would have disclosed the connection.