GOP presidential hopefuls reveal stricter immigration stances before first debate

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Thursday night brings the first primary debates of this election cycle. Cleveland, Ohio is hosting the ten leading candidates for the Republican nomination that will face off against each other on prime time television.

But before going into the first GOP, top contenders Donald Trump and Jeb Bush recently provided additional details about their plans to address the country’s immigration problems. The issue of immigration has propelled Trump to front-runner status and he has told the media that if elected, he would force undocumented immigrants, especially the criminals, to go back to their countries of origin.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump stated, “I get rid of the bad ones because we have a lot of really bad apples. We have a lot of bad dudes that are causing tremendous problems.”

For undocumented immigrants who could become assets to America, Trump encourages them to come back in a legal way. He remarked, “I’d let them back legally. They have to come through a legal system. And I’d make that system much quicker, much faster. I want people to come into the country.”

The real estate mogul also wants Mexico to pay for a wall on the Southern U.S. border to help stop undocumented immigrants from crossing into the United States. Trump said, “Mexico is making a fortune from us and they will pay for it. Mark my words — it’s called negotiation.”

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush on the other hand, released his plans to increase border security, his plan includes a flesible and “forward-leaning” border patrol, new technology to patrol the border, improved border infrastructure, electronic verification of workers, crackdowns on visa over-stayers and sanctuary city policies.

In a written statement, Bush said, “These proposals, when combined with a rigorous path to earned legal status, would realistically and honestly address the status of the 11 million people here illegally today and protect against future illegal immigration.”

Other Republican presidential hopefuls like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker raised the possibility of curbing legal immigration and Senator Marco Rubio said he now rejects a comprehensive approach and wants to tackle border security first. It’s a wait-and-see how big an issue immigration will become — not just in the first GOP debate — but as the campaign season heats up.

You may contact Henni Espinosa at henni_espinosa@abs-cbn.com for more information.