Santorum: Jeb Bush agrees with me on immigration points

Des Moines Register(Iowa)

By Josh Hafner

June 9, 2015

Santorum: Jeb Bush agrees with me on immigration points

Rick Santorum highlighted in Iowa Monday points of immigration policy where he agrees with Jeb Bush, a likely rival for the Republican presidential nomination whom Santorum has hammered on other aspects of the topic.

Santorum described a visa lottery program in the United States focused on diversity that brings in 1,000 immigrants per year from countries whose citizens don't historically immigrate to the United States.

Santorum slammed the program, saying it lures immigrants who struggle to acclimate here because they come from strikingly different cultures.

"And by the way, I'm not alone," Santorum said. "Someone who disagrees with me on the issue of immigration overall actually agrees with me on this, and that's Jeb Bush."

Bush, a former Florida governor, has called for a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants in the U.S., a position that differs from views held by many in the GOP presidential field, including Santorum.

Santorum also pointed to what he called "chain migration," which he said allows adult immigrants to bring other adult relatives to the States in the amount of 250,000 new immigrants per year. It's not a "rational program," Santorum said, adding that Bush agrees with him that it should be scrapped, too.

"Now, you say, you guys agree on a lot of this," Santorum said. "Yes, we do, on the policy. He just wants to replace it with other workers. My feeling is we want to take a look on how American workers will do with a slightly reduced — 25 percent — number of illegal immigrants coming into this country."

After the event, Santorum said he incorporated Bush's name into his stump speech to highlight that any criticism leveled against his own immigration stances on those topics should apply to Bush, too.

"He's probably the best-known person on immigration who's for more immigration. He's made a very big point of that," Santorum said. "I just point out that, on a policy level, what I'm proposing is not out of step with what even folks who disagree with me on the overall objective of immigration propose — that these are not programs that should be continued."

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com