Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich appeared at the same event in Doral on Friday. 

The same day, a new poll showed Romney is pulling ahead of Gingrich in Florida’s primary race. According to the Quinnipiac University survey of 580 likely Republican voters, Romney was favored by 38 percent, compared to 29 percent for Gingrich. 

Ron Paul was third with 14 percent, and he is not even campaigning in Florida. Rick Santorum only got 12 percent. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent. 

At Friday’s event in Doral, Gingrich received an endorsement from the Hispanic Leadership Network, a coalition of Americans from countries all over Latin America, including Cuba. 

“Our commitment to every person in Latin America should be that we want you to have the opportunity to live under the rule of law, to have private property, to pursue happiness, to develop prosperity,” Gingrich said. “We want America to be your closest friend and your closest ally in giving you a chance for your family to pursue a better future.” 

Gingrich repeated his charge that the Obama administration is neglecting Latin America. 

He said he would overhaul the current legal visa system, which he called “cumbersome,” saying the system makes it hard for businesspeople and visitors from countries requiring visas to visit. He said a change would help Florida tourism. 

To whoops and applause, Gingrich said he supports the rights of Puerto Rican people to have a referendum to decide on statehood and promised that, if the people decide yes, he will aid the process of accession. 

Gingrich repeated calls for a series of small steps in immigration reform, acknowledging extremes of harshness and leniency won’t garner consensus. 

Gingrich called for Hispanic Leadership Network representatives to take to YouTube, Twitter and other websites to help his candidacy.

If elected, Gingrich said he would consider asking Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, to join his cabinet. 

Romney spoke at the event Friday afternoon, laying out his plans for cracking down on illegal immigration while streamlining the legal immigration process.

“We have to stop illegal immigration, and for that reason I would, in fact, build a fence, and I would have enough border security agents to make sure that we are able to protect the border,” Romney said. “And, I will put in place a system that allows employers to know who’s here legally and not, so that people can, as they want to hire someone can ask for a card, can identify immediately if that card is valid or counterfeit.” 

Romney said that if employers hired people without the card or with counterfeit cards, he would crack down on the employers. 

“On that basis, we will stop the flow of illegal immigration into this country. I’m convinced of that,” he said. 

Romney said his “heart goes out” to the 11 million people in the U.S. illegally, those being held, abused and victimized by human smugglers in the U.S. and the 4.5 million people waiting in their home countries for legal permission to come to the U.S., many of whom are sponsored by relatives in the U.S. 

“I care about all three groups. Our primary responsibility as a government is to those last two, those that are waiting legally to come here,” Romney said. “I want them to get here. I’d like to see a transparent process. I’d like them to be able to go on the Internet and see where they stand and how many months or years it’s going to take for them to get here, rather than having to go through this labyrinth of loopholes and laws and a maze of regulations to try to get to this country legally. I’d like them to know where they stand and to make that easier.”