Sunday Political Talk Show interviews during 2015: on Immigration

Lawrence Lessig: Promise the hardest workers that they can become citizens

Jeb Bush: Prove border is secure, while doing comprehensive reform

BUSH: I think you can do both, but the first step is to prove that the border is secure. I mean, you could have a conversation about comprehensive reform while you're doing your job. This president committed to comprehensive reform and has done nothing and he hasn't enforced the border to the satisfaction of anybody that's looked at this issue.

John Kasich: Focus of immigration should be to keep families together

KASICH: Look, I have to be clear about it. I'm just trying to say that, in the course of a presidential campaign, I'm glad that I don't move so fast that I ignore people. And my views on our Hispanic friends across this country have been very positive. They are impactful in so many different ways. My position on immigration has been on that is intended to keep families together and to give them a good place in American society. I have great respect for [Latinos]. I think they are an important fabric of America.

John Kasich: Latino immigrants will continue to play critical role in US

KASICH: The head of the Hispanic Chamber said he appreciated my comments. And as you know, having followed me through this race, I've had a very reasonable position on immigration. I've always said that Hispanics are such a critical part of the fabric of the United States. They occupy jobs from top to bottom. They're God fearing and they're hard working. And if I need to clarify what I meant by that, I'm more than glad to do it. And that means that they hold very important positions. I've got a friend who's a doctor in oncology. I mean, that shows you how crazy it can get in this business. But to be clear, I believe that, from top to bottom, Hispanics play a critical role in America, not only today, but going forward.

Ben Carson: Taking in Middle Eastern refugees could be dangerous

CARSON: I would recognize that bringing in people from the Middle East right now carries extra danger. And we have to be extra cautious. You know, we need to tighten it up and be very careful, because we cannot put our people at risk because we're trying to be politically correct.

John Kasich: Focus on border & guest workers, not birthright citizenship

KASICH: The 14th amendment makes it clear that when you're born here you become a citizen. So bringing up that issue, because we do need to build the fence to protect our border, have reasonable guest worker program so people can come in and out, that lawbreakers go to prison or are deported, and the rest of the people pay a fine, they wait and they can be legalized. I think that's something the American people would support and I think it's something that could pass Congress. I'm interested in getting things done, not just banging on the podium, being an ideologue and making statements.

Chris Christie: Use modern technology to track illegal immigrants

CHRISTIE: They're not, my point was that this is again a situation where the private sector laps us in the government with the use of technology. Let's use the same type of technology to make sure that 40 percent of the 11 million people here illegally don't overstay their visas. If FedEx can do it, why can't we use the same technology? And we should bring in the folks from FedEx to use the technology to be able to do it. There's nothing wrong with that. And I don't mean people are packages.

Ben Carson: Use drones to destroy smuggler hide-outs on Mexican border

A: I said that the drones are excellent for surveillance. In no way did I suggest that drones be used to kill people. We have a huge security risk [at the border], and it seems like we have not only the cartels to deal with, the drug smugglers, the people smugglers, but we have the federal government, which is not being helpful. Over the last couple of years, they have released 67,000 people.

Q: But you said that you were considering drone strikes on cartels down there at the border.

A: No, that's a lie. What I said is, it's possible that a drone could be used to destroy the caves that are utilized to hide people.

Q: Who would be hidden in these caves?

A: The scouts. There are caves that they utilize. Those caves can be eliminated. I am not talking about killing people. We have excellent military people and military strategists; we need to get them involved.

Donald Trump: The border wall will be well-managed and built correctly

TRUMP: I'm telling you, it's called management. You can do this and we can expedite the good immigrants to come back in. And everybody wants that. But they have to come in legally. We have to be a country of laws and borders. We have wonderful Border Patrol people, but they're not allowed to do their job. I will get the best people to build this wall and we will do it properly and we will do it humanely and get the good ones back in.

John Kasich: 1993: end birthright citizenship; 2015: not part of approach

A: First of all, we ought to finish the fence. The 11 million who are here, we ought to find out who they are. If they've been law abiding over a period of time they ought to be legalized and ought to be able to stay here. If you have violated the law, we're going to ship you out. Once that fence gets built, we should make it clear, anybody who sneaks in, you're going back home. And in addition we need a guest worker program so that people can come in and work and be able to go back to support their family.

Q: Would ending birthright citizenship be part of this larger immigration approach?

A: I don't think we need to go there.

Chris Christie: E-verify instead of building a physical wall

A: There are not enough law enforcement officers, local, state and federal combined to forcibly deport 11 to 12 million people. This is like building a 2,000-mile wall across the border that Mexico is going to pay for. It sounds really good but the question is how? I think the way to do this is E-Verify. If folks new they weren't going to get jobs, they would not come.

Q: And what would you do with the 11 million who are here?

A: We're going to have to come up with a solution that's going to involve using E-Verify as well.

Bernie Sanders: Open borders for guest workers pushes down U.S. worker wages

A: Open borders? No, that's a Koch brothers proposal.

Q: Really?

A: Of course. That's a right- wing proposal, which says essentially there is no United States.

Q: But it would make a lot of global poor richer, wouldn't it?

A: It would make everybody in America poorer --you're doing away with the concept of a nation state, and I don't think there's any country in the world that believes in that. If you believe in a country called the United States or any other country, you have an obligation to do everything we can to help poor people. What right-wing people in this country would love is an open-border policy. Bring in all kinds of people, work for $2 or $3 an hour, that would be great for them. I don't believe in that. I think we have to raise wages in this country, I think we have to do everything we can to create millions of jobs.

Donald Trump: Building a wall will save money because it stops bad dudes

A: First of all--we have to stop it. We can do that with combinations of walls and Border Patrol. And it won't cost the kind of money--in fact, we will save money, because people that are coming in here that shouldn't be coming in here illegally. We have some really bad dudes right here in this country, and we're getting them out and we're sending them back to where they came from. And I don't mean Mexico; they come from all over. We have some real bad ones, and they're in our prisons that we're paying for.

John Kasich: Seal the border with Mexico, support legal immigrants

KASICH: What I support is a guest worker program expanded so people can come in and then go home. Seal the border. There are some interest groups that don't want the border to be sealed.

Q: What does "seal the border" mean, though?

KASICH: You do it with fencing and you do it with technology, drones and sensors. And, you know, Duncan Hunter in San Diego has significantly reduced the number of people coming across the border because of his initiatives on fencing. So do as best you can there. I've been told by grownups, real experts, that most of this can be done effectively. Guest worker program, the 12 million that are here, if they violated the law, they're going to have to pay a fine and pay a penalty for the fact that they violated the law. But, you know, if they're part of our culture now and society, and they're doing fine, they're hardworking, they're just like all of us, then I think they can stay.

Rand Paul: Secure border with Mexico; do away with sanctuary cities

Marco Rubio: No green card for 10 years for current illegal immigrants

A: Yes. Before you can ever be a citizen, you have to be a permanent resident. That means a green card. And you have to be in that status for three to five years. And what I have argued is, if you have violated our laws, you should not be allowed to apply for a green card for at least 10 years. And then, when you apply for a green card, you should have to do it through the normal, regular process, not through a special process created for you. So it could take a long time for someone to ultimately apply for citizenship. But I think that's a fair way to do it. It should not be cheaper or faster to become a citizen by having come here illegally.

Martin O`Malley: Help people immigrate to our nation of immigrants

Donald Trump: OpEd: businesses & Republicans condemn anti-Mexico terms

Former Gov. George Pataki (R-NY) laid out what he calls are "practical" policy solutions for the issue of securing the southern U.S. border, as well as what to do with the millions of illegal immigrants already living in the country. Trump "has tapped into a chord of people who do not want to see millions of people come here illegally, but that does not justify demonizing an entire group of people," said Pataki. .

George Pataki: Practical policy: legal residency after 200 hours of service

George Pataki laid out what he calls are "practical" policy solutions for the issue of securing the southern U.S. border, as well as what to do with the millions of illegal immigrants already living in the country. Pataki's immigration proposals include allowing illegal immigrants to obtain the status of legal resident if they come forward publicly, have no criminal history, and commit to 200 hours of community service.

Chris Christie: Increase electronic border surveillance and create E-Verify

Christie: To build a wall across our entire southern border, that's a simple politician's answer. My plan for the border would be multi-fold. First, it would be to use the [right] type of walling or fencing in certain areas. Second would be to use the type of electronic surveillance that we have available to us both through drones and through other electronic surveillance on the border. Third, of course, is to use Border Patrol officers to be able to do it. And fourth, and most important, is that require every employer in America to use E-Verify. Because these folks are coming to work. And if they're not able to be employed if they come here illegally, if every employer uses E-Verify and if they violate the law, there are fines that are so significant that the profit they make off hiring lower-wage workers and discriminating against American workers won't be worth their while. You'll see a real diminishment of anybody trying to come over the southern border

Rick Perry: I secured the border & reduced apprehensions as Texas Gov

PERRY: Well, I don't think he understands the challenge, obviously. I was the governor of Texas for 14 years. The governor of that state with the 1,200 mile Mexican border. When it became abundantly clear that the president wasn't going to deal with this immigration issue, we acted last summer. We surged our law enforcement and our National Guard there. And as a result we saw a 74 percent decrease of apprehensions in that region of the border where the real challenges were.

Donald Trump: Make Mexico pay for wall with severe economics

A: You have people coming through the border that are from all over. And they're bad. I'm talking about people that are from all over that are killers and rapists.

Q: How exactly are you going to get Mexico to pay for building a wall?

A: You force them because we give Mexico a fortune.

Q: So you would cut off business or impose tariffs unless they built the wall?

A: I would do something very severe unless they contributed or gave us the money to build the wall.

Donald Trump: Mexico & Latin America send us drugs, crime, and rapists

When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists.

And some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we're getting. And it only makes common sense. They're sending us not the right people.

It's coming from more than Mexico. It's coming from all over South and Latin America, and it's coming probably--probably--from the Middle East. But we don't know. Because we have no protection and we have no competence, we don't know what's happening. And it's got to stop and it's got to stop fast.

Donald Trump: Build great wall on southern border; have Mexico pay for it

Marco Rubio: Comprehensive immigration reform is politically infeasible

RUBIO: It's not that we bailed. It's that we don't have the votes to pass it. In fact, we have less votes for comprehensive immigration reform today than we did two years again when that passed, because of the last election, because of unilateral actions the president took through executive order, because of a border crisis, because of minors. So I still believe we need to do immigration reform. I still talk about that on the campaign trail. I outlined it in my book, "American Dreams." The problem is, we can't do it in one big piece of legislation. The votes aren't there.

Rand Paul: Legal status for 11 million illegals after we secure border

PAUL: What I want to do first is secure the border. If we secure the border and we can say who is coming, who is going, and only people come, come legally, the 11 million that are here, I think there could be a work status for them. And I think what I have tried to say is, what we want is more legal immigration, so we have less illegal immigration. But I am open to immigration reform. I voted against the bill that came forward, though, primarily because it limited the number of legal work visas.

Scott Walker: 2013: Comprehensive reform; 2015: no, that's amnesty

WALKER: No, I'm not talking about amnesty.

Q: But you said you supported it.

WALKER: And my view has changed. I'm flat out saying it. Candidates can say that. Sometimes they don't.

Q: So, you've changed from 2013?

WALKER: Absolutely. I look at the problems we've experienced for the last few years. I've talked to governors on the border and others out there. I've talked to people all across America. And the concerns I have is that we need to secure the border. We ultimately need to put in place a system that works. A legal immigration system that works. And part of doing this is put the onus on employers, getting them E-Verify and tools to do that. But I don't think you do it through amnesty.

Scott Walker: No amnesty, but no mass deportation either

WALKER: I think for sure, we need to secure the border. I think we need to enforce the legal system. I'm not for amnesty, I'm not an advocate of the plans that have been pushed here in Washington. We've got to have a healthy balance. We're a country both of immigrants and of laws. We can't ignore the laws in this country, can't ignore the people who come in, whether it's from Mexico or Central America.

Q: But is deporting them possible?

WALKER: That's not what I'm advocating. I am saying in the end, we need to enforce the laws in the United States, and we need to find a way for people to have a legitimate legal immigration system in this country, and that does not mean amnesty.

Mike Huckabee: Let illegal immigrant kids in college despite parents' crime

HUCKABEE: Absolutely. Look, we force people to go to school in our states. So as a governor, we had a kid in one of the largest high schools in the state who was the valedictorian. He came here when he was 5 years old. He had gone through the entire public school system. And then the big question was: Should he qualify, having been an Arkansas student, for the same scholarships that anyone else did? And I said yes, he should. Because you don't punish a child for something his parents did.

Rick Santorum: Focus on skilled immigrants; now most are unskilled

SANTORUM: Immigration can be, if immigration is done the right way. Immigration policy in America has to put America and American workers first. The focus of immigration policies [should be] on where we need people with certain skills to come to this country to help gin up and encourage our economy. But, unfortunately, the current legal immigration system is not that. We bring a little over a million people a year into this country on average over the past 20 years. And the overwhelming majority are folks who are lower-skilled or unskilled. And as a result of that, they are filling up a labor pool where there's not a booming growth of unskilled labor jobs in this country. And we're bringing people in who will compete against a lot of American workers. In fact, since 2000, the number of native-born Americans working in the workplace has gone down. There are fewer Americans working today who were born in America than there were 15 years ago.