Thread: Jeb Bush: No Path to Citizenship in Immigration Reform

We're not fooled by this. Jeb still supports mass amnesty, whether he tepidly opposes a so-called "path to citizenship" or not, which would be entirely secondary and less important than the instant "green card light" legalization/amnesty that illegal aliens would get under his scheme.

He flipped.

Jeb Bush: 'I Don't Have A Problem' With A Pathway To Citizenship

The Huffington Post | By Elise Foley Posted: 03/05/2013 9:14 am EST | Updated: 03/05/2013 10:28 am EST

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) walked back one of his new book's principles on immigration reform on the same day it was released, telling MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday that he would support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants if it could be done without creating a magnet for more unauthorized immigration.

"So going forward -- we wrote this last year -- going forward, if there is a difference, you can craft that in law where you can have a path to citizenship where there isn't an incentive for people to come illegally, I'm for it," he said on MSNBC. "I don't have a problem with that. I don't see how you do it, but I'm not smart enough to figure out every aspect of a really complex law."

Bush penned "Immigration Wars" with Republican lawyer Clint Bolick last year -- long before Republicans and Democrats began work on a comprehensive immigration reform that would allow some undocumented immigrants already in the United States to become citizens.

"Immigration Wars" surprised many observers because it explicitly stated that undocumented immigrants should be ineligible for a path to citizenship. The former governor has said in the past that he would support such a measure, but states with Bolick in the book that it should not be included in immigration reform. In opposing a pathway, Bush put himself to the right of fellow Republicans such as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

"It is absolutely vital to the integrity of our immigration system that actions have consequences -- in this case, that those who violated the law can remain but cannot obtain the cherished fruits of citizenship," Bush and Bolick write. "To do otherwise would signal once again that people who circumvent the system can still obtain the full benefits of American citizenship."

Bush repeated on MSNBC that there must be "a difference between a path to citizenship or a path to legalization" to prevent "a magnet" for future unauthorized immigration.
But he acknowledged twice that things had changed politically since he penned the book. Republican strategist Sally Bradshaw, his former chief of staff, explained his thinking to National Journal.

"Gov. Bush has always wanted to move the party towards a bigger solution that would provide residency and a path to legal citizenship, but he knew it would require getting Republicans to the table," she told National Journal in an email. "This book and his recommendations reflect that situation and his attempt to get the GOP talking about a possible solution. The focus of this effort is legal residency and a completely redesigned immigration system."

Jeb Bush: 'I Don't Have A Problem' With A Pathway To Citizenship

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Jeb Bush rankles bipartisan group over immigration

Alan Gomez, USA TODAY8:37p.m. EST March 5, 2013

Story Highlights

• The former Florida governor has a new book on immigration
• He says he opposes granting illegal immigrants citizenship
• Some politicians are unhappy with his comments

WASHINGTON -- Former Florida governor Jeb Bush is angering Democrats and some in his own party over his opposition to allowing illegal immigrants to attain U.S. citizenship, a stance he reveals in his new book on immigration.

In the 2012 presidential campaign Bush said that the GOP was being "tone deaf" on the issue of illegal immigration and what to do about it, saying the Republicans were alienating Hispanic voters.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney did not favor amnesty for the estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally. He supported securing the border and improving the ability of businesses to know whether a job applicant was an illegal immigrant, which he said would reduce the number of illegal immigrants who "self-deport" because there would be no work for them here. GOP primary contender Herman Cain suggested, among other things, building a moat on the border to keep people from entering the country illegally.

At the time Bush was saying the government needed to allow illegal immigrants a chance at legal residence and U.S. citizenship. On Monday, his new book, Immigration Wars, was released, and in it he says he now opposed granting citizenship to illegal immigrants.

A "pathway to citizenship" is an integral part of immigration bills being considered by the White House and bipartisan groups in Congress. Bush explained that his idea is for illegal immigrants who came to the country as adults to attain a level of legal status. But he said that it should not be full U.S. citizenship, arguing that "those who violated the laws can remain but cannot obtain the cherished fruits of citizenship."

The idea is one that has been floated in conservative circles as a way to solve the thorny issue of illegal immigration: recognize that millions of illegal immigrants will not leave nor should they be forced to leave, but at the same time do not reward them for breaking U.S. immigration laws.

The Florida Democratic Party said Bush's credibility on immigration reform has "vanished." Senate President Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Bush "made a fool of himself."

"Poor Jeb Bush. So far from God and so close to the Tea Party," said Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif. "This is why things are they way they are, because Republicans let themselves be bullied by the most extreme members of their party."

Republican members of the bipartisan Senate group working on an immigration overhaul bill with Democrats were not pleased with Bush's comments. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Bush's stance "undercuts what we're trying to do." Another member of the group, Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said he was "a bit perplexed" and "disappointed" to learn of Bush's approach.

Flake has said that he opposes "blanket amnesty" for illegal immigrants. But because of the different components of the bill they are working on with Democrats - including added border security and a requirement that all U.S. businesses check the immigration status of prospective workers -- Flake and other Republicans in the group agreed to Democrats' priority of granting citizenship to illegal immigrants.

Bush -- the son of one president, brother of another and a possible contender himself for the 2016 race -- took to the airwaves Monday to promote his book and defend his position.


On the Today show, he said many illegal immigrants don't want citizenship and that granting it to those who do want it could open the door for future waves of illegal immigrants.

"Our proposal is a proposal that looks forward. And if we want to create an immigration policy that's going to work, we can't continue to make illegal immigration an easier path than legal immigration," Bush told host Matt Lauer, alluding to immigrants who apply legally to come to the United States and often wait several years for citizenship. "I think it's important that there is a natural friction between our immigrant heritage and the rule of law."

On MSNBC's Morning Joe, he suggested he may agree to citizenship or illegal immigrants here already if it was part of a package that sufficiently reduced the magnets for future illegal immigrants.

"If you can craft that in law where you can have a path to citizenship where there isn't an incentive for people to come illegally, I'm for it, I don't have a problem with that," Bush told host Joe Scarborough. "I don't see how you do it, but I'm not smart enough to figure out every aspect of a really complex law."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/03/05/jeb-bush-immigration-citizenship/1965345/