"Removing all of our troops and healing Iraq are one and the same," said Richardson. "A diplomatic solution will only become feasible when it is clear that US troops will leave Iraq."

"I would leave no troops behind in Iraq," continued Richardson. "No air bases, no security patrols, no embedded soldiers training Iraqi forces." Richardson said any such forces would "have targets on their backs."

Richardson also touted his roots: both his status as the governor of a Western state and that he is the first Latino to run for President in the Democratic Party. Richardson welcomed early primaries in California, Texas, and Florida, noting that strong Latino constituencies in those states give him an advantage.

Fielding questions in English, Spanish, and even a bit of French for effect, Richardson first called the Senate's immigration proposal "a step in the right direction," and immediately countered that it was simultaneously "a step in the wrong direction." Richardson said the Senate's plan makes progress towards a path to legalization, but would also separate families. "We should not support any measure that would divide families," said Richardson, who was also critical of plans to build a border fence. "No fence built has ever stopped history."

Instead Richardson called for a doubling of the border patrol, a "reasonable" guest worker program, and strengthened diplomatic efforts with Mexico and other Latin American nations to stem the tide of illegal aliens entering the United States.