Former President George W. Bush said he supports widespread amnesty for illegal immigrants brought to the country as children.
“Americans who favor a path to citizenship for those brought here as children, known as ‘dreamers,’ are not advocating open borders,” the former president said in an op-ed for the Washington Post.
Bush pointed to former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, arguing that DACA children were “fundamentally American” and that the United States has been the only home they’ve ever known.
“They ought not be punished for choices made by their parents,” Bush argued.
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Bush, who has been promoting his new book containing stories and painting of immigrants, acknowledged that while amnesty for millions of immigrants was “fundamentally unfair,” he still supported amnesty for immigrants that had “earned” their citizenship through having jobs, learning English, and having an understanding of U.S. civics.
“The United States is better off when talented people bring their ideas and aspirations here,” Bush said.
But the former president also expressed his preference for legal immigration, saying that more of it should be encouraged and saying it was “a choice that both parties should be able to get behind.” The former president called for an expansion of temporary work visas as one way to expand legal immigration, giving more people an opportunity to become productive members of the country legally.
Bush held similar views during his time as president, even attempting to pass an amnesty bill in 2007. That effort failed in the Senate, garnering the support of 33 Democrats, 12 Republicans, and one independent.
Bush has in the past expressed not being able to pass the immigration reform bill was one of his biggest regrets from his time in office.
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“I campaigned on immigration reform,” Bush said during an interview with CBS last week. “I made it abundantly clear to voters this is something I intended to do.”
