George W. Bush pushes for bipartisan immigration reform in op-ed

WASHINGTON – Former President George W. Bush mirrored on the significance of immigrants to the United States, arguing for options to the nation’s ongoing immigration debates, in a Sunday op-ed for the Washington Post.

The former president advocated for a pathway to citizenship for immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, whereas calling for stronger border safety.

While he opposes offering a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million immigrants in the nation illegally, Bush mentioned that they must be “brought out of the shadows through a gradual process in which legal residency and citizenship must be earned” by means of work and repair necessities, in addition to proof of English-language proficiency.

“The help and respect historically accorded to new arrivals is one reason so many people still aspire and wait to become Americans. So how is it that in a country more generous to new arrivals than any other, immigration policy is the source of so much rancor and ill will?” Bush requested in his op-ed.

“The short answer is that the issue has been exploited in ways that do little credit to either party. And no proposal on immigration will have credibility without confidence that our laws are carried out consistently and in good faith,” argued the nation’s forty third president, who not often weighs in on political issues since he left workplace in 2009.

The former president’s column accompanies by years-long undertaking titled “Out of Many, One,” a series of paintings of immigrants to the United States and chronicles of their life stories compiled in a new book. Bush says the project seeks to “humanize the talk on immigration and reform.”

Bush’s op-ed touched on a series of potential reforms to the immigration system, including offering a pathway to citizenship for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and a call for greater border security.

“Over the years, our instincts have all the time tended towards equity and generosity. The reward has been generations of grateful, hard-working, self-reliant, patriotic Americans who got here right here by selection,” Bush wrote.

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