Earlier this afternoon, President Obama announced a new “deferred action” immigration policy that would protect students in the U.S. who are already in deportation proceedings or those who qualify for the DREAM Act and have yet to come forward to the Department of Homeland Security from being deported.

Confronted with the president’s landmark announcement, Mitt Romney attempted to whitewash his draconian immigration views during a campaign stop in New Hampshire today. Romney told reporters that he “agrees with Marco Rubio,” who has proposed a DREAM Act alternative.

This newfound belief is a far cry from his views during the primary campaign. Here are Romney’s top 5 comments on immigration during the Republican primary:

1. Romney attacked Governor Rick Perry for supporting the DREAM Act, calling it a “magnet for illegal immigration.”: In a Florida GOP debate, Romney accused Governor Rick Perry of engendering a “magnet” in Texas by allowing the children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition. Romney maintained that even though many children had no part in their families’ decisions to immigrate to the United States, they should not be able to have the same academic opportunities as their peers. [September 2011, USA Today]

2. Romney pledged to veto the DREAM Act: In December, Mitt Romney promised to veto the DREAM Act if he were elected president. Then during a January GOP debate, Romney called allowing any undocumented workers to gain permanent residency “a mistake.” [December 2011, ABC News]

3. Romney promised to make life so miserable for undocumented immigrants that they would “self-deport.”: At the Florida Republican Debate, Romney said that he would enforce stringent documentation policies that would make it difficult for illegal immigrations to find work, eventually spurring them to “self-deport.” According to Romney, “If people don’t get work here they’re going to self-deport to a place where they can get work.” [January 2012, Huffington Post]

4. Romney rebuffed undocumented young woman who was brought to the U.S. at age 10 and had a 4.0 grade-point average: Romney had a particularly awkward encounter when an undocumented worker demanded to know why he wouldn’t support the DREAM Act. After the young woman informed Romney of her 4.0 grade point average, the former governor was quickly ushered away by aides. [January 2012, The Hill]

5. Romney consults author of extreme anti-immigrant legislation on immigration issues: Romney consults Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State and author of harsh immigration laws in Arizona, South Carolina, and Alabama, as an advisor. Kobach is a controversial figure who has become the leading spokesman of the hardcore anti-immigration movement. [April 2012, ThinkProgress]

– Steven Perlberg

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), an immigration adviser to the Romney campaign, said President Obama’s new policy to not deport DREAM Act-eligible youth is “deeply troubling.”

Kobach, who wrote the extreme anti-immigrant laws in Alabama and Arizona, told ThinkProgress that the “deferred action” policy was “illegal” because it violates a section of the 1996 Immigration Reform Act. “What the president is describing is a policy that we will refuse to initiate deportation proceedings,” which Kobach said goes against current law.

But Kobach’s position appears to be at odds with Mitt Romney’s position, who did not say if he would reverse the president’s directive protecting undocumented students. Romney also said he agrees with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). Earlier today, Rubio said Obama’s announcement would be “welcome news for many of these kids desperate for an answer,” but called it a short-term answer for the nation’s immigration policy. Rubio has floated the idea of introducing his own version of the DREAM Act, but has not yet introduced a bill.

The comments highlight Romeny’s shift on immigration policy from the GOP primary, where he staked out the most extreme immigration position of the GOP field — including passionate opposition to the DREAM Act — and his attempts to appeal to Latino voters in the general election.

WASHINGTON, DC — Dr. Richard Land, a top conservative evangelical leader, came out strongly in favor of President Obama’s new immigration policy today, slamming Republicans who would call the move “amnesty.”

On the same day that President Obama announced a plan to give young undocumented people the ability to work in the United States, Land told ThinkProgress at the Faith & Freedom Conference in Washington, D.C. that Mitt Romney and other Republican leaders need to take a hard look at their own stances on immigration issues, especially in regard to youth “haven’t done anything wrong.”

Providing help to kids is far from “amnesty,” Land argued, and people calling it that “need a course in remedial English.” He also encouraged Mitt Romney and Congress to embrace the President’s policy:

STRASSER: I know you were talking about the idea of calling it amnesty and you were saying it isn’t amnesty because…

LAND: They haven’t done anything wrong. In order to get amnesty, you’ve got to have done something wrong. These young people are innocent. They haven’t done anything wrong. To me, this is the low-lying fruit of immigration reform. This ought to be something we can all unite around. They have to have been under 16 when they got here, they got to be under 30. He’s not granting citizenship, he’s granting a pathway to legal status. He’s making it so they’re protected from being deported and they can get on with their lives and their education with serving in the military. Investing themselves in our nation and our nation’s future. Who can be against that?

KEYES: What’s your reaction to people who call this amnesty?

LAND: They need a course in remedial English. It’s not amnesty.

STRASSER: Do you have any advice?

LAND: Yeah, I would say to the Romney campaign, this is the right thing to do. You should applaud the president for doing the right thing and encourage Congress to follow up by codifying it into law.

Watch highlights from the interview:

Land’s view differs sharply from many conservatives — including those close to Romney. Indeed, his immigration adviser, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, actually used the word “amnesty” to describe administrative relief to undocumented people.