In a newly released video, GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush says he supports amnesty for children and that the border can never be totally secured without sacrificing America’s liberties.
“I’ve never felt like the sins of the parents should be ascribed to the children, you know,” Bush said during a 2013 conference hosted by the right of center Hispanic Leadership Network. “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.”
Bush later said “it’s not possible in a free country to completely control the border without us losing our freedoms and liberties.”
CNN released the video Wednesday, as the House and Senate struggle to come up with a working plan to stop President Obama from following through on his executive order granting work permits to millions of illegal immigrants.
Bush is a leading contender for the 2016 GOP nomination, but he faces strong opposition from some who don’t think he’s conservative enough. Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who supported amnesty for illegal immigrants, is hosing a fundraiser for Bush this month, reported Breitbart.
Bush’s spokeswoman told CNN the comments are not a revelation. “Governor Bush has been extraordinarily clear that we need to address the border crisis by fixing our broken immigration system,” she said. “Border security is a key and chief component of sustainable and effective immigration reform.”
He also said the mayor of Detroit could use immigration to “repopulate” the city, which is still economically depressed after declaring bankruptcy.
“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.
“And that’s what immigration does,” he added. “And to be fearful of this, it just seems bizarre to me.”
