While Jeb’s Telemundo interview this week has been getting attention for his statements about amnesty immigration reform, there is another interesting tidbit in there about Iran that sheds some light on his push back against Mike Huckabee’s comments evoking the Holocaust.
Personally, I’m not surprised that Jeb is promising action on immigration reform to Spanish-speaking audiences; he promises the same thing to English-speaking audiences and has been quite defiant about maintaining his position throughout the primary.
Here’s a transcript (translated from Spanish) of part of the immigration portion of the interview:
José Díaz-Balart: How do we resolve the problem of 11 million undocumented and what do you think is the formula for the border to be secured and deal with those those people who are here and contribute to the economy with their hard work?Jeb Bush: Look, first of all, to arrive here legally has to be easier than to arrive here illegally. So one must have a commitment with a border, and JUST as important, there’s 40 percent of the undocumented that arrived here legally, that have a legal visa and they overstayed And they don’t go back. We must have a plan to solve that. It’s not the most complicated thing in our country, we can do it. We can accomplish it. But for the 11 million people, I believe that they come from out of the shadows they get a work permit, they pay taxes naturally, they pay small fine they, learn English. They don’t get benefits from the federal government, but they come out of the shadows. And they obtain a legal status after some time. I believe that’s the place where one could obtain consensus to solve this problem.José Díaz-Balart: In your book you say that group should never have access to citizenship. Is that a viable option, in other words to create a category of second class citizens that can be here legally but never have access to full residency or citizenship.Jeb Bush: One could have access if they receive legal status one way or the other. But what I don’t believe should be done is to cut in front of the line, you know? That’s the most difficult aspect of all this, but we must remember one thing: more than half of the people who received amnesty, because in 87 that was amnesty, more than half, they didn’t even try to become a citizen. The majority of these people want to work, and want to live out of the shadows. They want to receive the respect given by this country.
I did find it interesting that a majority of those who benefited from the 1986 Immigration and Control Act did not seek citizenship.
Here’s the full Jeb interview in Spanish for our Spanish-speaking readers:
We know where Jeb stands on immigration, so what I found more compelling were his comments about Iran:
José Díaz-Balart: Former governor Mike Huckabee speaking on the Iran deal said that president Obama was marching the people of Israel towards the oven. Your reaction to that first, and then your reaction to President Obama saying that our only option is this plan or war?Jeb Bush: That is not true. This agreement does not benefit the international interest of this country. It’s going to create more insecurity in the region, it’s going to create maybe the proliferation of nuclear bombs not only in Iran, but also in the neighboring countries.They don’t do anything to recognize that Iran is the biggest supporter of terrorism in the region. So I believe it’s another example of a policy based on the fact that people change without pressure. They’re going to receive $150 billion dollars in less than a year to promote insecurity. I don’t believe that’s the right thing to be done. But besides, in the case of Mike Huckabee, who is my friend, those words, that use of those type of words, doesn’t help. Doesn’t help. We must have a more civil politics in this country. [emphasis added]
Jeb’s focus on civility may be the reason that Ted Cruz sees him as afraid to speak candidly about jihad and America’s role in fighting—and funding—it.
Cruz maintained Thursday that if world powers lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for the country curbing its nuclear program, members of the Obama administration “will be the leading global financiers” of terrorism.“When you send billions of dollars to jihadists trying to kill Americans, you bear responsibility for the murder they carry out with the money you have given them,” Cruz said on the “Chad Hasty Show.”“You know, one of the reasons Republicans keep getting clobbered is we have leaders like Mitt Romney and like Jeb Bush, who are afraid to say that,” Cruz said.
Based on Jeb’s Telemundo interview, he seems to be saying essentially the same thing that Cruz is saying, but he stops short of pointing out Obama’s role in Iran being “the biggest supporter of terrorism” and their using money from the U. S. to “promote insecurity.” “Insecurity,” apparently, is Jeb speak for terrorism and/or nuclear proliferation.
Jeb, like Mitt Romney before him, apparently believes that he can win the presidency by being the only “adult” in the room. Is he right?
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY