“I made it clear that for me, if somebody wants to be a citizen, they need to go back to their country of origin, get in line, no preferential treatment,” Walker said. “In terms of what to do beyond that, again, that’s something we got to work with Congress on.”
"On Thursday, Jeb Bush faced one of his most unwavering critics on the issue of immigration. The questions were sharp, the answers were heartfelt, and the result was … inconclusive.
It happened at the National Review Institute's Ideas Summit in Washington. The conservative magazine has long opposed immigration reform schemes that would amount to an amnesty for those in the United States illegally and an invitation for more to come. When Bush sat down with National Review editor Rich Lowry, the first immigration question had to do with Bush's rival for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
Lowry asked for Bush's reaction to Walker's statement 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."
Walker's statement has already rocked the 2016 GOP immigration debate. It would probably meet the approval of a huge part of the Republican base. But Bush would not agree.
"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."...............
"This is not a zero-sum game," Bush repeated. "If you want to grow at 4 percent per year instead of 2 percent, you need younger, more dynamic people inside of our economy."
Lowry pointed out that critics like Walker weren't necessarily talking about zero-sum games as much as supply and demand. If the U.S. brings in more low-skilled workers, it will drive down the wages of the low-skilled workers already here.
"So who's suggesting that?" Bush asked. "That's the false argument."
Lowry noted that the Senate's Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill would have done just that — a remark that brought one of Bush's sharpest responses.
"I'm not a United States senator," Bush said. "Thank God. Just for the record here, I live in Miami. I'm outside of Washington. I've written a book about this. What I was describing was my idea."
In 2013, Bush urged Congress to pass a bill like the one passed by the Gang of Eight. His words in Washington Thursday sounded like at least an indirect repudiation of the legislation, even though Bush approved much of what was in it. And Bush's "I'm not a United States senator" remark sharply distinguished him from his protégé-turned-opponent Marco Rubio, one of the authors of the Gang of Eight.
Lowry tried once more. What would Bush think of the following series of reforms?..........."