Pence supported ‘self-deportation’ in 2006

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) — who will reportedly be Donald Trump’s running mate — in 2006 proposed an immigration plan that would require immigrants to “self-deport.”

{mosads}Pence, then a House lawmaker, teamed up with then-Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) on an immigration plan that would require certain immigrants to return to their original country in order to legally obtain a visa, according to a Denver Post article from the time.

The Good Neighbor SAFE Visa program would have created foreign offices in Mexico and Canada to allow people there to apply for special visas to live and work in the U.S.

The visas would have been renewable for up to two years, with an option for workers to apply to extend their stay for five additional years. After that period, they could apply for permanent residence.

The self-deportation policy became anathema in 2012 after Mitt Romney proposed it during his presidential bid, prompting criticism from both sides of the aisle.

Romney was asked during a primary debate how he would solve the immigration problem without “rounding up” undocumented families.

“The answer is self-deportation, which is people decide they can do better by going home because they can’t find work here because they don’t have legal documentation to allow them to work here,” he said, according to CBS.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in 2013 said Romney’s plan helped contribute to the GOP’s general election loss the year before.

“Using the word ‘self-deportation’ — I mean, it’s a horrific comment to make,” Priebus said, according to the Washington Post. “It’s not something that has anything to do with our party. But when a candidate makes those comments, obviously it hurts us.”