It looks like Jeb Bush’s abandonment of his newfound opposition to a ‘pathway to citizenship’ is now complete. See our complete Jeb Flip Timeline here. This from his interview this morning on This Week …
During an interview for “This Week,” former Florida governor Jeb Bush told me that he was “in sync” with South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on the issue of immigration reform.
Graham, a key member of the bipartisan group of senators pushing for immigration reform, took Bush to task after the former Florida governor said Monday that he did not support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, which is a key component of the plan being pushed by the Senate group. Bush subsequently reversed course and said he could in fact support a plan that included a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already living in the United States.
“Senator Graham and I talked. He was responding to concerns that were expressed before the book was actually published,” Bush said. “I told him that I support his efforts and I applaud what he’s doing. And he concluded, after he heard what the thesis of the book is that we’re in sync. We’re on the same — on the same path.”
“The basic premise needs to be that coming to the country legally should be easier with less cost than coming to the country illegally. And if you can create a system like that as is being discussed in the Senate and in the House- through a path to citizenship, that’s fine,” Bush said. “But my guess is that will take a long, long time to achieve. In the interim, it’s important to take people out from the shadows to allow them to have- the dignity of being- having legal status.”
Here’s the rest of ABCNews’ write-up. This all comes after Bush stunned immigration reformers by pulling his support for what it widely considered the lynch pin of comprehensive immigration reform — a so-called ‘pathway to citizenship’. Later Bush conceded that he staked out this position when it was still the de facto GOP position before the November election but couldn’t change because his book announcing his new position had already gone to press before the GOP decided to get on board with reform.
