Jeb Bush doubling down on amnesty proves he’s not right for America
Posted by: Jon Dougherty May 4, 2015
Jeb Bush keeps doubling down on immigration positions that are just wrong for the country
If you believe Democrats, the U.S. and state governments have no right to make laws that put any limitations on immigration or any restrictions on people who have come into the country, legally and otherwise, because to do so is “unjust,” “unfair,” “racist,” “xenophobic,” etc.
Apparently, we can add a potential Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush to that mix.
Stung by conservatives early on regarding his past views on “immigration reform” – a position which, like Democrats, amounts to nothing more than amnesty for the millions of people who entered our country illegally – Bush doubled down on them last week during a forum hosted by the stalwartly conservative National Review magazine.
First, some history for context.
Bush has said in the past that, sure, we need to ensure that border security is much better, but that’s a throwaway line aimed at quieting conservative barking dogs. He has also said, according to Democratic tracking firm American Bridge, that “it’s not possible in a free country to completely control the border without us losing our freedoms and liberties.”
There’s more.
I’ve never felt like the sins of the parents should be ascribed to the children, you know. If your children always have to pay the price for adults decisions they make — how fair is that? For people who have no country to go back to — which are many of the DREAMers — it’s ridiculous to think that there shouldn’t be some accelerated path to citizenship,” he said in 2013.
Bush also floated the idea of repopulating Detroit with immigrants.
“It just seems to me that maybe if you open up our doors in a fair way and unleashed the spirit of peoples’ hard work, Detroit could become in really short order, one of the great American cities again,” Bush said. “Now it would look different, it wouldn’t be Polish…But it would be just as powerful, just as exciting, just as dynamic. And that’s what immigration does and to be fearful of this, it just seems bizarre to me.”
He has praised Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida – himself a declared 2016 GOP presidential contender – and Jeff Flake of Arizona for backing the “Gang of 8” bipartisan “immigration reform” bill that, again, was essentially amnesty.
“I’m just reading this stuff — wow,” said Daniel Horowitz, who edits the site ConservativeReview.com, in an interview with CNN. “This is insane. Honestly, I don’t take him seriously, because of [comments like] these and because of the Bush name it’s very hard to see him getting anywhere in a primary.”
But Bush obviously doesn’t much care what the base of his party thinks – or, for that matter, for the majority of the American people – who oppose amnesty in any way, shape or form, and who want the federal government to do its job and enforce existing immigration law (as every other nation on earth with the means to do so does).
In his National Review event, Bush said “I think I’m right about this” when it came to his views on immigration and amnesty.
NR editor Rich Lowry asked Bush to opine on a statement made by another prospective 2016 GOP candidate, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who said earlier that “the next president and the next Congress need to make decisions about a legal immigration system that’s based on, first and foremost, on protecting American workers and American wages” (a statement he has since doubled down on, much to the chagrin of liberals and the GOP Establishment).
“I don’t think it’s a zero-sum game,” Bush answered. “I think if we start thinking it’s a zero-sum game, we’re going to play the game that Barack Obama plays oh so well. It’s the wrong approach.”
Asked to clarify, Bush offered the same tired and disproven (more on that in a moment) excuse that America needs more immigrant labor.
As reported by the Washington Examiner:
"[Bush argued] there simply won’t be enough growth in the future unless the United States brings in young foreign workers. Bush recommends changing the mix of immigrants allowed into the country, to bring in fewer extended family members of immigrants already here — so-called “chain migration” — in favor of more skilled workers who are likely to contribute to the economy."
That’d be nice, except then we might first have to change or repeal the 14th Amendment’s “if you’re born here, you are a citizen automatically” clause, as well as the 1964 Immigration Reform Act (because who will take care of the newly born American citizen – the welfare state?). If Bush has given this issue some serious thought – and he claims to have done so – why didn’t he address this aspect of the problem, which is huge.
But he clearly hasn’t. For him and other Establishment Republicans, it’s all about cheap labor – labor they all say America needs.
“We have three to five million jobs unfilled that require skills in America today,” Bush argued. “Think of, had we fixed our immigration system in the way that I would propose, how much extra job growth and investment would have happened in our country that would have provided opportunities for higher wages for people struggling near or at the bottom, or people that are squeezed in the middle.”
Bush is likely talking about the so-called STEM shortage – shortages of people with degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Only, there is no shortage of American STEM workers, as Bush and the RINOs (and Democrats) claim.
As noted by U.S. News & World Report, not known to be a well of Republican thought:
"All credible research finds the same evidence about the STEM workforce: ample supply, stagnant wages and, by industry accounts, thousands of applicants for any advertised job. The real concern should be about the dim employment prospects for our best STEM graduates: The National Institutes of Health, for example, has developed a program to help new biomedical Ph.D.s find alternative careers in the face of “unattractive” job prospects in the field. Opportunities for engineers vary by the field and economic cycle – as oil exploration has increased, so has demand (and salaries) for petroleum engineers, resulting in a near tripling of petroleum engineering graduates. In contrast, average wages in the IT industry are the same as those that prevailed when Bill Clinton was president despite industry cries of a “shortage.” Overall, U.S. colleges produce twice the number of STEM graduates annually as find jobs in those fields."
If Bush and his campaign (to be) have evidence to the contrary, let them present it. Otherwise, his claims ring hollow and sound an awful lot like a Democratic presidential opponent named Hillary Clinton, who, by the way, is also wrong on immigration.
So far, the best position in this immigration “debate” has been Walker’s. Why Jeb Bush and other candidates keep pushing for more massive immigration is apparent – more cheap labor for U.S. Chamber of Commerce members.
That’s not in the best interest of American workers who can and will fill jobs and “do the work” the Bushes and Clintons wrongly claim they aren’t doing.
What are your thoughts on Jeb Bush’s immigration stances? LET US HEAR YOU below!
Poster Comment:
Jeb Bush would be a big mistake for America. This country cannot afford another Bush in the White House. ;)