Mitt Romney will deliver a speech Wednesday from the Freedom Tower. How interesting that Romney — who opposes immigration reform despite supporting it before — will be visiting Miami’s version of Ellis Island. It’s even more ironic that the Freedom Tower is now a facility belonging to Miami Dade College which is the incubator for the Dream Act, immigration-related proposal that Romney opposes.

The Dream Act was born in the halls of MDC by a group of overachieving Hispanic students who cannot attend the top colleges that accepted them because they came to this country illegally as infants. In response, these young men and women have stepped out of the shadows to organize themselves and wage an aggressive campaign in favor of a law that rewards their achievements and allows them to fully integrate into our society.

There are Republicans such as Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart who support this legislation, but Gov. Romney promises to veto it if he’s elected president. He calls it a handout, as if serving in our armed services or going to college — a requirement for citizenship in the law — are free and easy.

Gov. Romney’s business record is equally troubling. He and his partners killed 1,700 American jobs while taking home nearly $250 million in profit as they bought and bankrupted companies like Dade Behring, leaving behind unemployed Miamians to pick up the pieces.

In the coming election, our community will have to answer one fundamental question: Will we support the candidate who supports us?

I’ve no doubt that if Romney wins the Republican nomination, he’ll try to run as fast as he can from his offensive positions to win our support. When he tries to do that, the Dreamers from MDC and many others will have a clear answer for him: Too little, too late.

Freddy Balsera, senior Hispanic adviser, Obama Reelection Campaign, Miami