Perry takes heat in debate over his immigration policies

ORLANDO, Fla. - Texas Gov. Rick Perry came under fire on his immigration record during a televised Republican presidential debate Thursday for opposing a fence along the Mexico border and for allowing the children of undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Texas universities.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said that policy amounted to a $100,000 discount not available to citizens from 49 other states to go to the prestigious University of Texas at Austin. "We have to turn off the magnet of extraordinary government benefits," Romney said.

"If you say that we should not educate children that have come into our state for no other reason than they were brought here through no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart," Perry said of his critics. He said the goal is to keep them from being a "drag" on society.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum said Perry was "soft on illegal immigration," adding that no one is suggesting children of undocumented immigrants should not be able to attend U.S. colleges. The issue, Santorum said, is "why should they be given preferential treatment as an illegal in this country?"

In the days before the debate, Perry and Romney tore into each other, with Romney portraying Perry as an unelectable extremist on Social Security and Perry calling Romney "Obama light" and suggesting he might not be a real Republican.

The squabbling indicated the growing heat between the two leading candidates for the GOP nomination.

For the third time in a row, Romney criticized Perry for writing in his book that Social Security is unconstitutional and a matter for states.

Perry said Romney was misleading voters and he had never suggested that Social Security should be left to the states and that people who rely on the program now should know it will be there.

"There's a Rick Perry out there saying that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business and that Social Security is unconstitutional, so you better find that Rick Perry and get him to stop saying that," Romney said. "We have to make it very, very clear that Social Security is a responsibility of the federal government."

Perry accused Romney of backing away from his health plan in Massachusetts, which requires people to buy policies, by removing favorable mentions of it between editions of his book. Romney denied Perry's allegation, saying: "I actually wrote my book, and in my book I said no such thing."