Christie bucks GOP, Dem ideas on immigration
Christie bucks GOP, Dem ideas on immigration
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie discussed immigration, U.S.-Cuba relations, and regional trade agreements at COA’s 45th Washington Conference.
For the second time in less than a week, Governor Christie on Tuesday used a question about immigration to draw a distinction between people living in the country illegally who want to work and those who want to vote.
And that could be a sign that, as Christie tries to navigate his way through a crowded field of potential candidates for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, he is preparing an immigration position that would allow people without proper documentation to stay in the country to work but not to become citizens.
A stance like that would put him at odds with the bipartisan immigration reform agreement that passed the Senate in 2013 and died in the House. But it would also put Christie at odds with conservatives in his own party, including some presidential hopefuls, who want all workers without legal permission to live in the U.S. to be forced to return to their native countries.
Christie has had a complicated record on immigration since becoming governor in 2010. He won praise from immigration advocates for signing a law that allowed children without legal status to receive in-state tuition at state colleges and universities....
