GOP Debate in Miami: on Immigration

Donald Trump: I take advantage of H-1B visas; but stop them

TRUMP: Because nobody knows the system better than me. I know the H-1B. I know the H-2B. Nobody knows it better than me. I'm a businessman. These are laws. These are rules. We're allowed to do it. So I will take advantage of it; they're the laws. But I'm the one that knows how to change it.

Q: So what would you do with H-1B visas?

TRUMP: It's something that I frankly use and I shouldn't be allowed to use it. We shouldn't have it. Very, very bad for workers. And second of all, I think it's very important to say, well, I'm a businessman and I have to do what I have to do. When it's sitting there waiting for you, but it's very bad. It's very bad for our workers and it's unfair for our workers. And we should end it.

Marco Rubio: My parents immigrated on family connections; but stop that

RUBIO: When you talk about the millions of green cards that are coming in, those aren't actually workers at all. They are just coming in primarily based on family connection. And let me tell you, when my parents came in 1956, I acknowledge that my parents came to the U.S. on a family-based system. The problem is nothing looks like it did 60 years ago. But today in the 21st Century, 60 years later, finding jobs when you don't have skills is very difficult. We need to move to a merit- based system of immigration, not just on H-1B, particularly on green cards. The primary criteria for bringing someone from abroad in the 21st Century should be, what skills do you have? What business are you going to open? What investment are you going to make? What job are you going to be able to do when you arrive?