I had not seen this diaried yet, from Think Progress...
Mitt Romney’s father George was born in Chihuahua, Mexico in 1907, the son of Gaskell Romney and Anna Amelia Pratt. Three generations of Romneys lived in Mexico because Miles Park Romney, a polygamist, moved the family there in 1884 as it became increasingly clear that the U.S. government would not tolerate polygamy in the Utah Territory. The 1882 Edmunds Act stripped polygamists of the basic rights of U.S. citizenship, denying them the right to vote, serve on juries or hold office. Not dissimilar to current immigration raids, U.S. federal agents hunted and arrested polygamists. Polygamists were forced to leave the country or risk jail.
Miles chose to leave the country, bringing his multiple wives and children with him across the southern border.
Well this certainly may be quite a pickle for the Mitt Romney campaign. Personally I had no idea his family was from Mexico. There was even some question whether dad George entered the United States legally...
Relative Junius Romney negotiated with rebel leaders to get women and children out of the colony for their safety. Anna, with Mitt’s father George in tow, fled across the U.S. border by train (with no apparent delay or search at the border). A short time later Gaskell, like many Mexican immigrants before and since, covered hundreds of miles under a hot sun, crossing by land into New Mexico.
As a Mexican born immigrant, George would do quite honorably, becoming Governor of Michigan and running for the Republican nomination for President in 1968. His support for civil rights and opposition to the Vietnam War resulted in his loss to Richard Nixon. His son Mitt is of course where this post began.
Read the rest, Romney just got an endorsement from immigrant-hatin' Tom Tancredo this week, which caused this interesting bit of family history to surface.
Oh and, Merry Christmas y'all!