Romney dismissed that as providing a “magnet” for illegal immigration.

“I don’t understand his position unless he was just pandering to hardliners,” Gingrich said. “I was prepared to take the heat to develop a rational program.”

Gingrich said he had a “humane” plan and that Romney didn’t.

“I was very surprised when Gov. Romney indicated he would deport everybody. I hope somebody down here would ask him: Is he envisioning breaking up families? Is he envisioning that it doesn’t matter that someone’s been here 25 years and has grandchildren,” he said.

Gingrich said he was “pleasantly surprised” that conservatives back his immigration plan, which hasn’t helped hobble his candidacy in the same way that it hurt Gov. Rick Perry.

The blowback over his criticisms about Bain, however, have been far more intense.

Gingrich said he was just vetting Romney. He said Romney, a “Massachusetts moderate” hides his record as governor because he was a “pro-abortion, pro-tax increase, pro-gun control.”

But, he said, when he started questioning Romney’s claims about job-creation at Bain, he was unexpectedly criticized.

“It’s a private company that doesn’t have any public information. So you get caught in this nice trap. He gets to assert it. Nobody gets to ask about it. And we’re supposed to trust him,” Gingrich said.

“If there’s nothing there, release it. If you’re not releasing it, is it because there’s something there? If you’re going to claim you created 100,000 jobs, why is it unfair to say a presidential candidate should have to meet their claim?”