Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush talked candidly about why he no longer supports a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, saying Wednesday he changed his position because “the climate changed.”
“It has changed, because the climate has changed,” Bush told Bret Baier in a Fox news interview, referring to his changed position on a path to citizenship. “And this is the consensus view that allows conservatives to get in the game.”
Asked how his switch on immigration is different from that of other candidates, Bush said he’s held the new view for four years, after outlining it in his book “Immigration Wars: Forging An American Solution.” (RELATED: Walker Redefines What Constitutes A Flip Flop)
It would allow illegal immigrants to earn a provisional work permit and then apply for legal status. They could eventually apply for citizenship, but without any special process allowing them to cut in front of others who have already applied.
“Narrow the number of people coming by family,” he said. “Expand the number of people coming fro economic purposes. And deal with the 11 million people in a just way. A way that embraces American values, but gets this solved so that we can grow our economy again, and make it an issue that’s a winning issue for Republicans.” (RELATED: Jeb Bush: Illegal Immigration Is Often An ‘Act Of Love’)
“Here’s the deal,” he continued. “Hillary Clinton would love to have this, just like Barack Obama, would love to have this be a political issue election after election after election. They could have fixed it.”
“They could have fixed it when she was a senator. They could have fixed it when he was president — his first two years he had 60 votes in the senate — and he didn’t do it. Why? Because they used this as a wedge political issue.”
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