How Jeb Bush crystallized the GOP dilemma on immigration
Greg Sargent, WashPost
Jeb Bush’s comments about immigration, and the continuing backlash to them, have produced a seminal moment in this debate, because they lay bare the fundamental difference between the two parties on the issue with remarkable clarity. It is this: Most Democratic lawmakers want the 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country to become a part of American society, while most Republican lawmakers want them to (at best) remain in the shadows of illegality or (at worst) leave.
To be sure, after the official party-wide GOP position of self-deportation (as expressed by the GOP presidential nominee) led to historic losses among Latinos in 2012, many leading Republicans agreed something needs to be done to legalize the 11 million. A handful of GOP Senators voted for the Senate bill and its special path to citizenship. Some are suggesting alternatives, such as legalization with no possibility of citizenship.
But for all practical purposes, the basic fact remains: House Republicans have not offered, or voted on, any formal proposal to confer on the 11 million any kind of legal status. So their de facto position is either the status quo or deportation (self-administered or otherwise). Reform’s fate turns on the core question of whether there exists any set of conditions or terms that can induce a sizable enough bloc of House Republicans to support some form of legalization for those 11 million people.
The Jeb Bush comments are important precisely because they illuminate the moral and political dilemma for Republicans that underlies this core question.
Speaking to conservative activists in New Hampshire over the weekend, Donald Trump elicited boos when he castigated Bush’s remarks. It’s worth rerunning Bush’s comments, because one of the most important aspects of them has not gotten enough attention — his suggestion that undocumented immigrants might have something valuable to contribute to American society if they are legalized:
“Yes, they broke the law. But it’s not a felony. It’s an act of love. It’s an act of commitment to your family…it shouldn’t rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families. And the idea that we’re not gonna fix this with comprehensive reform ends up trapping these people when they could make a great contribution for their own families, but also for us….they can make a contribution to our country if we actually organized ourselves in a better way.”
(More here.)
Jeb Bush’s comments about immigration, and the continuing backlash to them, have produced a seminal moment in this debate, because they lay bare the fundamental difference between the two parties on the issue with remarkable clarity. It is this: Most Democratic lawmakers want the 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country to become a part of American society, while most Republican lawmakers want them to (at best) remain in the shadows of illegality or (at worst) leave.
To be sure, after the official party-wide GOP position of self-deportation (as expressed by the GOP presidential nominee) led to historic losses among Latinos in 2012, many leading Republicans agreed something needs to be done to legalize the 11 million. A handful of GOP Senators voted for the Senate bill and its special path to citizenship. Some are suggesting alternatives, such as legalization with no possibility of citizenship.
But for all practical purposes, the basic fact remains: House Republicans have not offered, or voted on, any formal proposal to confer on the 11 million any kind of legal status. So their de facto position is either the status quo or deportation (self-administered or otherwise). Reform’s fate turns on the core question of whether there exists any set of conditions or terms that can induce a sizable enough bloc of House Republicans to support some form of legalization for those 11 million people.
The Jeb Bush comments are important precisely because they illuminate the moral and political dilemma for Republicans that underlies this core question.
Speaking to conservative activists in New Hampshire over the weekend, Donald Trump elicited boos when he castigated Bush’s remarks. It’s worth rerunning Bush’s comments, because one of the most important aspects of them has not gotten enough attention — his suggestion that undocumented immigrants might have something valuable to contribute to American society if they are legalized:
“Yes, they broke the law. But it’s not a felony. It’s an act of love. It’s an act of commitment to your family…it shouldn’t rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families. And the idea that we’re not gonna fix this with comprehensive reform ends up trapping these people when they could make a great contribution for their own families, but also for us….they can make a contribution to our country if we actually organized ourselves in a better way.”
(More here.)
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