November 8, 2019 • Regional News
Jeb Bush blasts negative rhetoric against immigrants at Borderplex conference
Jeb Bush blasts negative rhetoric against immigrants at Borderplex conference
Former Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush spoke of the importance immigration plays with trade while condemning harsh rhetoric against immigrants Thursday in El Paso.
Talks on trade and immigration policies — and their economic impact on the borderlands — dominated the Borderplex Alliance annual conference on Thursday. Bush headlined the summit, which drew in hundreds of people to the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center.
While affirming the need for greater border security — though not necessarily in the form of a wall — Bush lambasted the current political rhetoric targeting immigrants and underscored immigrant communities' contributions to the U.S. economy.
"This is not a question of debate," the former 2016 presidential candidate said. "Legal immigrants commit fewer crimes. They form more families. They have more children. They start more businesses. They own more patents."
"If you are trying to compete in the global economy," he said, "it seems to me that you would want to embrace a strategy that included immigration to take advantage of the greatness of this country."
Other speakers during the daylong conference addressed specific aspects of the bi-national trade relationship, including the pending U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, also known as NAFTA 2.0.
Canada and Mexico have already approved the deal, but Congress has yet to bring it to a vote.
"All of us on the border see how deep the relationship is" between the U.S. and Mexico, said Roberto Coronado, senior economist with the Dallas Federal Reserve in El Paso. "But we often forget the uniqueness of the U.S.-Mexico trade relationship."
Want more news like this? Click here to subscribe to elpasotimes.com.
For every $1 in goods the U.S. imports from Mexico, 40 cents is U.S.-made content, he said. That compares with 25 cents of each $1 of Canadian goods and 4 cents of each $1 in Chinese goods imported.
Bush advocated for changes to the U.S. immigration system that would limit extended family immigration and encourage economic migration, adjusting controls on both. But the thrust of his message was that immigrants are a driving economic force.
"The folks who want to come here, want to come here to pursue their dreams," he said. "And the more they pursue their dreams, there is greater opportunity for all of us."
Share this Article
