Two Modern Day Democrats? George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan Debating Immigration in 1980
Check out this video of George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan discussing immigration during a Texas Republican primary debate in 1980. It is going viral. California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom first shared the video on Facebook back in February, but it’s making the rounds once more for how it stands in contrast to the rhetoric we’ve heard from Donald Trump and other Republicans this election cycle.
The video starts with an audience member asking the Republican candidates whether children of undocumented immigrants should be allowed to attend Texas public schools. Bush answered by saying that the kids should get “whatever it is that society is giving to their neighbors” and that undocumented immigrants are “really honorable, decent, family-loving people,” even if they are in violation of the law. “The answer to your question is much more fundamental than whether they attend Houston schools, it seems to me,” Bush added. “If they’re living here, I don’t want to see a whole thing of 6- and 8-year-old kids being made, one totally uneducated and made to feel that they’re living outside the law. Let’s address ourselves through the fundamentals.” He ended by saying, “These are good people, strong people.”
Reagan followed up on Bush’s comments, saying, “Rather than talking about putting up a fence, why don’t we work out some recognition of our mutual problems, make it possible for them to come here legally with a work permit, and then while they’re working and earning here, they pay taxes here.”
KJ