WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) -- Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., says that while people who immigrate to the U.S. illegally aren't bad people, the U.S. "can't invite the whole world" to come here."
His comments on This Week with George Stephanopoulos were in response to former Fla. governor Jeb Bush (R) saying undocumented immigration was an act of love in some cases. Paul carefully crafted his response to say that while that may be true, the priority of the U.S. should be to secure the border.
"If it were me, what I would have said is people who seek the American dream are not bad people," said Paul. "However, we can't invite the whole world. When you say, 'doing an act of love,' and you don't follow it up with, 'well, we have to control the border,' people think 'well because they're doing this for kind reasons, the whole world can come to our country.'"
Paul is expected to be a GOP candidate in the 2016 presidential election, and Bush is rumored to be considering throwing his hat into the ring. Immigration is a contentious issue that has been killed multiple times in Congress, with Democrats and Republicans not agreeing on an approach to immigration reform.
Paul did not state whether he agreed or disagreed with Bush, but he has been vocal about the issue of immigration and has been pushing Congress to act on reform.
[Huffpost Live]
