Republicans to Debate Immigration, Etc. on Thursday
Image courtesy of Fox News website
On Thursday, the Republican presidential candidates — or 10 of them — will debate the issues in Cleveland, Ohio. Fox News has announced said that Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, and John Kasich will all appear on the prime time debate on Thursday. That leaves Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, and Jim Gilmore to appear during an earlier — non-prime time — debate.
As we all know, Donald Trump staked out an extreme enforcement-oriented approach on immigration. The other candidates have scurried to not be outflanked. Even Jeb Bush, who has written a book on immigration reform, now apparently advocates increased border security measures before creating a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants. While others move toward enforcement, Trump now seems to be softening his position some and voices support for legal immigration.
How the debate will go is hard to predict. Although immigration will likely be a topic of discussion, I do not think we will see any big surprises. We will hear that (1) the current immigration system is broken by all accounts; and (2) the nation needs more border security before any kind of enactment of “comprehensive immigration reform,” which is code for any path for legalization. A number of candidates, such as Ted Cruz, will likely take potshots at President Obama’s executive actions on immigration and decry any “amnesty.”
By the way, is it really true that the debate is in Cleveland so that all the candidates can visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland?
KJ