Bush calls for expansion of immigration of skilled workers

Associated Press

DETROIT

In Republican presidential prospect Jeb Bush’s first major economic speech, the former Florida governor said the U.S. economy should be growing at 4 percent annually — and called making it easier for skilled immigrants to enter the country a key to getting there.

In a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, Bush offered an economic vision with few specifics, saying he favored promoting two-parent families and closing the income gap by overhauling the nation’s school systems to give parents more choice.

But he also called for “dramatically expanding” the number of immigrants allowed to enter the country to work in high-need jobs, while calling the prospect of overhauling the country’s immigration system “a huge opportunity ... not a problem.”

“While the political fights go on, we’re missing this opportunity. I view fixing a broken system as a huge opportunity to get to that 4 percent growth,” Bush told about 600 Detroit-area business leaders. “We can grow by 4 percent through all sorts of policies, but immigration has to be a part of it.”

Economists expect the U.S. economy to expand 3 percent this year, above the 2.2 percent annual average during the recovery from the Great Recession.

Bush, who has spent the past several weeks aggressively raising money in private ahead of a likely run for president, long has supported a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s immigration system.