Former President George W. Bush criticized the heated debate over immigration in America on Thursday, saying it damages the “goodness” of the country.
“I am disturbed by the debate that’s taking place because I think it undermines the goodness of America,” Bush told Presidential Leadership Scholars.
While not specifically calling out President Trump’s immigration policies, Bush said many Americans don’t recognize the many contributions immigrants make, and the intense rhetoric obscures that the U.S. immigration system is “broken” and needs to be fixed.
[Trump: Democrats want illegal immigrants ‘to pour into and infest’ the US]
Bush has previously called for immigration reform, admitting that not passing such reforms is one of the great regrets of his presidency.
Bush’s wife, Laura, penned a scathing op-ed last month calling Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy that separated migrant children from their parents at the border “cruel” and “immoral.”
Former President Bill Clinton, who also spoke at Thursday’s event, said America is experiencing a time of great divide.
“People think our differences are more important than what we have in common,” he said.
