Jeb Bush on Immigration Former Republican FL Governor

Sub-sections under Immigration:
• Comprehensive Reform
• Other issues under Immigration

End heartless policy of family separation at southern border

"Children shouldn't be used as a negotiating tool. @realDonaldTrump should end this heartless policy and Congress should get an immigration deal done that provides for asylum reform, border security and a path to citizenship for Dreamers," Bush said online in a tweet replying to Trump.

Are we going to ban Muslims from India & Indonesia?

CHRSTIE: After spending seven years as a former federal prosecutor, right after 9/11, dealing with this issue-- Here's the way you need to deal with it. You can't just ban all Muslims. You have to ban radical Islamic jihadists. You have to ban the people who are trying to hurt us.

BUSH: Are we going to ban Muslims from India, from Indonesia, from countries that are strong allies? Of course not. What we need to do is destroy ISIS. I laid out a plan to do that and it starts with creating a "No Fly Zone" and "Safe Zones" to make sure refugees are there. We need to lead a Sunni led force inside of Syria. We need to embed with the Iraqi military. We need to arm the Kurds the directly.

When students ask questions in Spanish, I answer in Spanish

TRUMP: We have a country, where, to assimilate, you have to speak English. I'm not the first one to say this: This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish.

BUSH: Well, I've been speaking English here tonight, and I'll keep speaking English. But the simple fact is, if a high school kid asks me a question in Spanish, I'm going to show respect and answer that question in Spanish. Even though they do speak English, and even though they embrace American values.

My wife is Mexican and she wants a wall on Mexican border

OpEd: Vigorously booed as moderate, by deep conservatives

He tore into Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration over the Keystone Pipeline and foreign policy, messages that went over well in the room, and some in the audience also applauded his vigorous criticism of Donald Trump. He didn't convert many attendees, but he showed he could hold his own in deeply conservative territory.

Eliminate sanctuary cities, plus more enforcement

BUSH: I do. I believe that the great majority of people coming here illegally have no other option. They want to provide for their family. But we need to control our border. I did come up with a comprehensive strategy that really mirrored what we said in the book, which is that we need to deal with E-Verify, we need to deal with people that come with a legal visa and overstay. We need to be much more strategic on how we deal with border enforcement, border security. We need to eliminate the sanctuary cities in this country. It is ridiculous and tragic that people are dying because of the fact that local governments are not following the federal law. There's much to do.

Immigrants are an engine of economic vitality

JEB BUSH (VIDEO CLIP): Immigrants are an engine of economic vitality. We need to find a way, a path to legalized status for those that have come here and have languished in the shadows. There's no way that they're going to be deported. No one is suggesting an organized effort to do that.

Q (to SEN. RICK SANTORUM): Is he right that immigration is the engine of economic vitality?

SANTORUM: Immigration can be, if immigration is done the right way. Immigration policy in America has to put America and American workers first. The focus of immigration policies [should be] on where we need certain skills or certain people to come to this country to help gin up and encourage our economy.

OpEd: Disagrees with Tea Party on immigration and education

Jeb also differs from the Tea Party on their core issue of education reform: Jeb agrees with the national standards of Common Core; while the Tea Party supports local control over national standards.

"Repealing and replacing" ObamaCare is a core tenet of the Tea Party, with which Jeb does not agree. Jeb is not a hard-core repealist on healthcare: he says we should let ObamaCare fail on its own. A key question for Jeb in 2015 is whether his anti-ObamaCare stance is strong enough, or if a Tea Party opponent will challenge him on this issue in the primary.

OpEd: Rational sympathy rather than economic logic

Bush's position makes a lot of sense but unfortunately--and he knew when he uttered those words--only one phrase will be remembered: "act of love." Suffice it to say that this son and younger brother of presidents will be endlessly mocked by many, if not most, conservatives for expressing what will be depicted as a bleeding heart liberal's view of illegal immigrants. That Bush would campaign as an advocate for immigration reform--a position that is considered anathema by many in the Republican Party's grass roots--was never in doubt. But what makes this a political gaffe of a sort is that Bush chose to make the argument for a rational approach to the fact that 12 million illegals are in the country by playing the sympathy card rather than an appeal to cold, hard economic logic.

Immigration is 'not a felony' but 'an act of love'

"Yes, they broke the law, but it's not a felony. It's an act of love, it's an act of commitment to your family," Bush said. "I honestly think that is a different kind of crime, that there should be a price paid, but it shouldn't rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families," he said.

"I think we need to kind of get beyond the harsh political rhetoric to a better place." Bush acknowledged that his comments would be recorded. "So be it," he said before discussing immigration reform, an area where he splits from many in the Republican Party in lobbying for a comprehensive overhaul.

Immigrants are committed to family, even if illegally here

This Sunday, he went further in describing the motives of some undocumented immigrants in deeply positive terms: "Yes, they broke the law, but it's not a felony," Jeb said. "It's an act of love. It's an act of commitment to your family."

The problem: The only people absent from this consensus are the leaders of his own party. House Republicans have for a decade bottled up "amnesty."

FactCheck: Yes, immigrants are more fertile

Bush, speaking at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference, made a pitch for immigration reform, saying America needs more new workers to help pay for retirees--"to rebuild the demographic pyramid" as he put it. "Immigrants are more fertile," Bush said. "And they love families and they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population. Immigrants create an engine of economic prosperity."

Bush's words were on track, and we rate the statement Mostly True.

People come illegally because there's no legal path to come

BUSH: That's exactly right. The incentives that exist today are for people to come illegally because there's no path for them to come legally. We don't have a guest worker program. We have lines that are so long, that in effect, there are no lines. If you--I mean, we have a lottery system where people actually put their names in. That's the reaction to our immigration system being so clogged up.

Q: This isn't really about the pathway to citizenship, is it? Isn't this about what everybody has called the empathy gap? That people look at the Republican Party and they think mean old white guys, mainly.

BUSH: I think that immigration is a gateway issue for people that have some part of the immigrant experience. It's a gateway issue if you can get past that, whether it's the empathy gap or actually having a positive agenda, then you have to make a case on a broader set of issues.

Limit family reunification: no siblings nor parents

When parents & siblings are given immigration preference, their entry in turn creates an entitlement to other extended family members to gain preference as well--a phenomenon called "chain immigration."

In terms of cost/benefit analysis, extended family members typically do not produce the economic benefits that work-based immigrants do, and they impose far greater costs.

We propose limiting guaranteed admissions to spouses and minor children of US citizens. Reuniting married couples and their children is the essence of family reunification. By contrast, siblings and parents cause substantial chain immigration because their children, siblings, and parents then receive guaranteed admission preference as well.

Treat illegals with compassion but also rule of law

This time, we need to vindicate both core values On one hand, we should try to put ourselves in the shoes of people who have entered the country illegally: they often faced impossible economic circumstances in their native countries, with a bleak future for themselves and their families, yet had no realistic process of immigrating lawfully to this country. On the other hand, allowing people to immigrate illegally without consequence while millions of others wait to enter through lawful means in manifestly unfair.

To become citizen, pass exam in English and civic history

To become citizens, immigrants must demonstrate fluency in English and pass an examination on basic American civics and history. There are 100 possible questions, from which 10 are asked of prospective citizens. Answering 6 out of 10 questions constitutes a passing grade.

We believe that should not be enough to earn citizenship. Instead, aspiring citizens should be able to demonstrate a fundamental understanding of our nation's values and mechanisms of democracy. Thus we would expand the civic knowledge necessary for citizenship to include our nation's founding documents, the crucial role of a market economy in promoting freedom and prosperity, and the means and importance of civic preparation.

Illegals can't "wait in line"; there is no line to wait in

Emphatically, the best solution to illegal immigration is a viable system of legal immigration.

Objections to more multiracial America are misplaced

What the demographics mean is that Americans will grow increasingly multiracial. Reform opponents raise the same tired arguments their predecessors raised for centuries: that the newcomers will not assimilate; they won't learn English; they are disproportionately criminal, welfare-dependent, and subversive of American values. History repeatedly has proven those objections misplaced. Where would we be if we had allowed those arguments to prevail in the 19th century or at any time since then? Certainly, we would not be the most powerful, prosperous, and generous nation on earth. Nor will we continue to be if we allow those arguments to prevail today.

GOP wooed Hispanics in 2004; but alienated them by 2012

1980s: Voter registration for 88,000 naturalized Hispanics

Between Dec. 1983 & Dec. 1986, the number of Republicans climbed from 150,651 to 238,520, a 58% increase, while the number of registered Democrats actually declined from 425,559 to 422, 205. Certainly, this was to an extent just taking advantage of existing conditions. Miami Cubans had been angry at the Democratic Party ever since President Kennedy had [abandoned] the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Still, Jeb deserves credit for following through with the grunt work part of the operation. His goal was to register all newly naturalized Hispanics, not just Cubans, as Republicans, and he was extraordinarily successful in this, helped by his by-then fluent Spanish.

Speaks Spanish; husband and father of Hispanics

In Miami, Jeb didn't need Columba's ethnicity to connect with the Hispanic majority. His ability to speak the language and, perhaps even more important, his long and deep support of Miami's virulently anticommunist foreign policy essentially made Jeb an honorary Cuban.

Show compassion to illegals with a path to legal status

We need practical plan; not possible to deport 11M illegals

Prove border is secure, while doing comprehensive reform

BUSH: I think you can do both, but the first step is to prove that the border is secure.˙I mean, you could have a conversation about comprehensive reform while you're doing your job. This president committed to comprehensive reform and has done nothing and he hasn't enforced the border to the satisfaction of anybody that's looked at this issue.

Earned legal status, not amnesty

There is no plan to deport 11 million people

[When asked about] this policy fissure with the conservative base, Bush responded, "I know there's disagreement here," acknowledging boos that came from the right wing crowd. "I feel your pain. But there is no plan to deport 11 million people," Bush continued. "We should give them a path for legal status where they work, they don't get government benefits, where they learn English."

And though he prioritized security along the nation's border, he believed the GOP could also broker an agreement on other reform possibilities. "Let's do it. Let's control the border," Bush said. "There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing that holds back the Republicans from putting a comprehensive plan in place to do it."

2009: favored deportation; 2012: favored path to citizenship

Q: Should the government offer immigrants already living in the US illegally a pathway to citizenship?

A: Yes. Bush flipped from favoring deportation for undocumented immigrants to favoring a path to citizenship "sometime between 2009 & 2012." Since then, he has supported a path to citizenship. "You have to deal with this issue," he said in 2012. "You can't ignore it, and so either a path to citizenship, which I would support--or a path to residency of some kind."

In April, Bush said there should be "penalties for breaking the law" but that coming to the US illegally is often "an act of love."

Supports DREAM Act, but not via executive action

Q: Should the children of undocumented immigrants be offered a pathway to citizenship?

A: Yes. In 2012, Bush said he does not support Obama's executive actions on immigration, but does support the DREAM Act. "Having a solution to the fact that we have all of these young people--many of whom are making great contributions, don't have a connection to their parents' former country--yeah, of course I'm for it. But then again, I'm not running for anything, and I can speak my mind."

Illegal immigration is act of love: different kind of crime

Advocate for residency for illegal immigrants

My plan is legalization, not self-deportation

BUSH: The difference is that we are suggesting that there be a path to legalization, that people that are here come out from the shadows. That is a far cry from telling people they have to go back to their home country. And the other thing I would say is that our proposal also says for children of illegal immigrants, those who can't come here illegally that were children, that they should have a path to citizenship on a far faster basis. The so-called "DREAM Act" kids.

Q: But in terms of the path to citizenship, that is self-deportation, correct?

BUSH: No, it is not self-deportation; people can stay here. 60% of the people that were granted a process of legalization and citizenship in 1987 did not apply for citizenship. They stayed as legal residents of the country.

Path to citizenship or path to legalization: both could work

BUSH: My view has been that, in order to get comprehensive reform, we could take either path; either a path to citizenship or a path to legalization. The important point is that illegal immigrants should not get better benefits at a lower cost than people that have been waiting patiently. So assume we pass the law this year--and I hope that's the case--five years from now we should

Reform must make it easier to come legally than illegally

BUSH: I haven't changed. The book was written to try to create a blueprint for conservatives that were reluctant to embrace comprehensive reform, to give them, perhaps, a set of views that they could embrace. I support a path to legalization or citizenship so long as the path for people that have been waiting patiently is easier and costs less, the legal entrance to our country, than illegal entrance. The worst thing that we could do is to pass a set of laws and have the exact same problem we had in the late 1980s, where there was not the enforcement and it was easier to come legally than illegally.

6-part proposal for comprehensive immigration reform

A Proposal for Immigration Reform
1. Fundamental Reform: Comprehensive interrelated approach because system as a whole is broken, and to achieve bipartisan consensus.
2. A Demand-Driven Immigration System: Replace overriding preference for family reunification with work-based immigration.
3. An Increased Role for the States: Share federal authority over immigration policy [such as] social services and providing benefits.
4. Dealing With Current Illegal Immigrants: We propose a path to permanent legal resident status for those who plead guilty to having entered our country illegally as adults and who have committed no additional crimes of significance.
5. Border Security: Broader immigration reform is an essential component of border security; we can't do one without the other.
6. Toward a More Vibrant Future: Getting immigration policy right will allow us to reclaim the prosperity that in recent years has eluded our grasp.

There is no realistic pathway to citizenship for most people

Of the many serious and legitimate criticisms that can be leveled against our current immigration system, two in particular stand out in terms of hugely detrimental impact:

• We are not bringing in highly skilled immigrants in sufficient numbers to meet our needs and to maximize future American prosperity.
• There is no realistic pathway for most people who simply wish to become American citizens.

Path to legal resident status: pay fines & no criminals

We propose a path to permanent legal resident status for those who entered our country illegally as adults and who have committed no additional crimes of significance. The 1st step in obtaining that status would be to plead guilty to having committed the crime of illegal entry, and to receive an appropriate punishment consisting of fines and/or community service. Anyone who does not come forward under this process will be subject to automatic deportation, unless they choose to return voluntarily to their native countries.

Secure border as component of reform, not as prerequisite

Demanding border security as a prerequisite to broader immigration reform is a good slogan but elusive on the details and measurements. What do advocates of such an approach mean by "operational control" of the border? That not a single immigrant will cross illegally? That no illegal drugs will cross the border? That no terrorists will enter our country? What exactly is the magic moment we must wait for before we can fix the broken immigration system?

Education reform more critical than immigration reform

Pray for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, not AZ law

Jeb Bush, Conservative Leaders Call on Congress, President to Act on Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

Hundreds of conservative grassroots advocates will join a nationwide strategy call with key business and Evangelical leaders to share convictions around the need for immigration reform this year and discuss plans for moving the issue forward.

Conservative leaders will provide an update on the fallout from last week's passage of Arizona's divisive immigration law and pray for a solution to the moral, economic & political crisis caused by our broken immigration system. Speakers will also share strategies for breaking the stalemate in Congress to move immigration reform this year.

Share costs of legal immigration between states & federal.

The Governors urge Congress to consider the following principles regarding immigration policies.
• The decision to admit immigrants is a federal one that carries with it a firm federal commitment to shape immigration policy within the parameters of available resources we as a nation are determined to provide.
• The fiscal impact of immigration decisions must be addressed by the federal government. The states, charged with implementing federal policy, have shared and are sharing in the costs; however, there should be no further shift of costs to the states.
• A basic responsibility of the federal government is to collect and disseminate timely and reliable statistical information on immigration and its consequences for the United States.
• Federal immigration policies should ensure that new immigrants do not become a public charge to federal, state, or local governments.
• The federal government must provide adequate information to and consult with states on issues concerning immigration decisions that affect the states.
• States should not have to incur significant costs in implementing federal laws regarding immigration status as a condition of benefits.

The Governors urge the following regarding Legalization and Naturalization:
• States require maximum flexibility in determining and allocating resources to meet the needs of newly legalized aliens.
• The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) must be diligent in its efforts to ensure that felons are not naturalized and being given the benefits of citizenship rather than being deported.
• The naturalization process should be streamlined to be more efficient and accessible to eligible applicants wishing to become citizens, with all the rights and responsibilities thereof.
• The INS must take aggressive action to eliminate the backlog of naturalization applications, which is now approximately 800,000 nationwide.

Federal government should deal with criminal repatriation.

[Regarding illegal immigration], the Governors continue to call on the federal government to negotiate and renegotiate prisoner transfer treaties to expedite the transfer of criminal aliens in the United States who are subject to deportation or removal. The negotiations for such agreements should focus on:
• ensuring that the transferred prisoners serve the balance of their state-imposed prison sentence;
• removing any requirement that the prisoners consent to be transferred to their countries of origin;
• structuring the process to require that the prisoners serve the remainder of their original prison sentence if they return to the United States; and
• considering economic incentives to encourage countries of origin to take back their criminal citizens.

Additionally, the Governors believe the federal government should:
• increase the use of interior repatriation with countries contiguous to the United States;
• place INS officials in state and local facilities for early identification of potentially deportable aliens - nearer the point of their illegal entry - to ensure formal deportation prior to release; and
• upon the request of a state Governor, place INS officers in state courts to assist in the identification of criminal aliens pending criminal prosecution.

Import farm workers from Mexico.

• Whereas, agriculture, which has critical importance in the South not only to our economy, but to our regional and cultural identify and way of life, is facing rapid changes in technology and an increasing global economy; and,
• Whereas, the cost of government commodity programs has varied in recent years between $5 billion and $26 billion in nominal terms, and removed acreage from production thus reducing the cost effectiveness of the program; and,
• Whereas, global trade is crucial to the survival of American agriculture, calling for fair application and enforcement of current and future trade agreements to secure a level playing field for exporters of U.S. food and fiber; and,
• Whereas, agricultural labor shortages, complicated by U.S. federal immigration policy, continue to plague the South, now, therefore, be it
• Resolved, That the Southern Governors’ Association, with respect to the 2002 farm bill, urges Congress and the Administration to:
  • Make commodity program payments, production agreements, limitations, and quotas, belong to and follow the producer, rather than the landowner — taking care not to violate WTO agreements;
  • Continue Loan Deficiency Payments and marketing assistance loans to protect farmers against price levels below the Marketing Loan rate.
  • Enact agricultural federal tax incentives — reducing local property taxes for small producers in high tax areas — so farmers can continue to farm rather than sell land for other uses as well as other tax provisions for environmental/conservation improvements, agriculture research and donations of commodities to charitable organizations;
  • Work together to ensure fair application of current and future trade agreements that will open the door to new foreign markets;
  • Implement a farm labor system, based on the agreement between Canada and Mexico, which will provide an orderly, efficient way to import farm workers.