Republican frontrunner Donald Trump defended his position on immigration during Wednesday night’s GOP debate against former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R).
“I want to build a wall, a wall that works, it’s a big part of it,” Trump said.
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He went through his proposal of how he would deport illegal immigrants, focusing first on gang members.
“We have a lot of really bad dudes in this country, they go the first day,” he said.
He also argued that no one had mentioned immigration before he decided to run for president, and his concerns were validated when an illegal immigrant murdered Kate Steinle in San Francisco.
“We’re going to have a country again, we don’t have a country, we don’t have a border,” Trump continued. “We can do it, and it can be done with heart.”
Trump also responded to concerns about the cost of his plan by pointing out that illegal immigration is costing more than $200 billion annually.
The moderators asked the billionaire if he went too far when he commented that Jeb Bush’s immigration position has a lot to do with his Mexican wife, to which the former Florida governor demanded an apology.
“She’s a Mexican American, she loves this country as much as anyone else. She’s an American by choice,” Bush said.
Bush also emphasized that Reagan passed amnesty, but Trump flatly rejected any such idea.
“He’s weak on immigration, he doesn’t get my vote,” he said.
Trump also slammed Bush for speaking Spanish on the campaign trail.
“To assimilate you have to speak English,” Trump said.
On the issue of birthright citizenship Trump found an unlikely ally, Sen. Rand Paul.
