Thread: Breaking from rivals, Jeb Bush defends birthright citizenship

Breaking from rivals, Jeb Bush defends birthright citizenship

By BRIANNA EHLEY
8/18/15 4:52 PM EDT

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush split from many of his fellow GOP presidential contenders on Tuesday and staunchly defended birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants — saying it is a constitutional right that should be protected.

During an interview with CBS’s Major Garrett, Bush waved off Donald Trump’s immigration plan — which includes repealing the 14th Amendment that provides birthright citizenship— as unrealistic.

“Mr. Trump can say that he’s for this because people are frustrated that it’s abused. But we ought to fix the problem rather than take away rights that are constitutionally in doubt,” Bush said.

Since Trump pushed the idea on Sunday, GOP presidential hopefuls Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal also called for ending birthright citizenship.

Other Republicans including Sen. Rand Paul, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich have previously supported ending birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants — though Kasich now says it’s not necessary. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has said the issue needs to be revisited.

Meanwhile, Sen. Marco Rubio, former New York Gov. George Pataki and Carly Fiorina have opposed repealing the 14th Amendment. Although Rubio told voters in Iowa that he’s “open to exploring ways of not allowing people who are coming here deliberately for that purpose to acquire citizenship.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/0...#ixzz3jHYS0u4y