Gingrich, during a question-and-answer session with select members of the church, covered much of the ground important to evangelicals. The former House speaker reiterated his stand against abortion and using embryonic stem cells for research. He also said that he would reinstate the so-called “Mexico City policy,” which forbids the use of American funds to pay for abortions abroad.
Prompted by a question from the church’s panel, Gingrich also tackled the issue of immigration by saying that he would shift Border Patrol resources to boost the agencies ability to police the country’s porous borders, establish a guest worker program, increase penalties to employers who hire illegal immigrants, and make it easier for people to turn in suspected illegal immigrants. He would also make English the country’s official language and toughen the test required for citizenship.
The large crowd gave Gingrich several standing ovations.
Earlier in the afternoon, the crowd was much more modest at what was to be a town hall of Hispanic voters at Centro de la Familia, a nondenominational ministry.
Some of the parishioners, many of them Puerto Rican, said they were undecided but wanted to hear what Gingrich had to say about immigration. But Gingrich did not speak extensively about the issue there.
The Rev. Emanuel Rosario said he was intrigued with Gingrich’s positions, including support for some aspects of the Dream Act to allow children of illegal immigrants on a special path to becoming US citizens if they serve in the nation’s armed forces.
But he said Gingrich could be hurt by assertions now being made by the Romney camp that he called Spanish a “ghetto language.”
Rosario did his own research and concluded that the accusation was taken out of context, but he said many Hispanics -- an important voting bloc in Florida -- may not take the time to look beyond campaign rhetoric.
Gingrich did not refer to Spanish specifically as such, but nevertheless had apologized for how his choice of language could have been misconstrued.
