Businessman and former Ambassador to the Vatican City, Francis Rooney, is spending a lot of his personal wealth on his current campaign to win the Republican primary race in Florida’s 19th congressional district.

Rooney is running as the “outsider” and pro-legal immigration candidate in the race against Chauncey Goss and Dan Bongino to replace outgoing Congressman Curt Clawson (R).

But while Rooney TV ads and campaign rhetoric come across as very pro-legal immigration when it comes to reforming the broken immigration system, his past support for comprehensive immigration reform calls his tough campaign stance on the issue into question.

Here is what we wrote the other day about Rooney’s position on immigration:

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In a recent hard-hitting TV ad on illegal immigration, Rooney says that he will “fight to build a big one (wall) on our southern border,” adding that the border need to be secured, “stop illegal immigration,” and end “sanctuary cities.”

But while Rooney comes across as very hawkish against illegal immigration, the former ambassador appears to be in favor of a form of comprehensive immigration reform that would increase H-1B visas.

Back in 2014, Rooney was also part of a group of conservative-minded elected officials and donors who wanted the U.S. Congress to act swiftly on “passing meaningful immigration reform.” (Source)

Now we have learned that Rooney supported the ill-fated, highly-unpopular, and controversial Senate “Gang of 8” immigration reform bill of 2013, which conservatives across the country and  the pro-legal immigration lobby scoffed at.

Yes, this is the same  amnesty-lite bill that Senator Marco Rubio co-sponsored along side Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin, as well as with GOP Senators Lindsay Graham and John McCain.

According to an advertisement paid for by Crossroadsgps.org , a group that supported the 2013 Senate immigration bill, Rooney signed off and supported the measure as being “an important starting point toward rebuilding America’s dysfunctional, porous immigration system.”

Rooney penned an op-ed in The Hill newspaper where he made stated that he disagreed with amnesty for illegal immigrants, and that any call for amnesty should not be proposed.

Rather than limit the discussion to “secure the border,” which is a sacred responsibility of government and a given, non-negotiable requirement of any meaningful reform, we must also consider and debate a range of options to deal responsibly with the people living illegally in the Unites States right now.

No one is or should propose amnesty of any sort—certainly not extending citizenship, government benefits nor a “jump the line” opportunity to these people—but we can discuss options for  regularizing the status of these immigrants which will bring them into the mainstream.  There are precedents for this with the Bracero program.  At least in this way we will know who and where they are and what they are doing in the United States.

In an 2007 interview with Catholic.org when Rooney was still the  Ambassador to the Vatican, Rooney outlined that tough security measures along the U.S.-Mexico border need to be put in place to help stem the tide of illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking, as well as all other crime that was spilling over into the U.S. from Mexico.

With that said, Rooney also backed then-President George W. Bush’s “rational middle ground” approach to comprehensive immigration reform.

Here is an excerpt of the Rooney interview:

Comprehensive immigration reform must account for the millions of immigrants already in the country illegally. For those who have worked hard, supported their families, avoided crime and become a part of American life, the president is calling for them to come out of the shadows and under the rule of American law. The president is not advocating for an automatic path to citizenship, but supports a rational middle ground.

That calls for workers who have entered the country illegally, and those who have overstayed their visas, to step forward and pay a penalty for their illegal conduct. The president is also calling for undocumented workers to learn English, pay their taxes, pass a background check, and hold a job for a number of years before they are eligible to be considered for legalized status.

Is the illegal immigration issue still an important issue for voters in southwest Florida?