GOP presidential candidate Bobby Jindal says the head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services must go, following the agency’s move to water down the requirements for modifications to the citizenship Oath of Allegiance.
“I think the President needs to fire the director immediately. I think Congress needs to pass a law to stop them from changing the oath,” Jindal said in an interview with Breitbart News Wednesday.
“Let’s be honest here, immigration without assimilation is invasion. We’ve always said the people coming here have to want to be Americans otherwise why are they coming here in the first place?” he asked.
Tuesday, USCIS announced it was clarifying the eligibility requirements for modifications to the Oath of Allegiance.
While immigrants seeking to become citizens are usually required to declare they will “bear arms on behalf of the United States” and “perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States” new guidance is now allowing for not only those with religious objections but also people with a strongly held beliefs to omit those portions.
Specifically the guidance says that citizenship candidates:
-May be eligible for modifications based on religious training and belief, or conscientious objection arising from a deeply held moral or ethical code.
-Is not required to belong to a specific church or religion, follow a particular theology or belief, or to have had religious training in order to qualify.
-May submit, but is not required to provide, an attestation from a religious or other type of organization, as well as other evidence to establish eligibility.
According to Jindal, it is “ridiculous” that those two lines would not be required.
“Nobody is making anybody come here. Nobody is making anyone become a citizen. So I don’t think it is too much to ask folks, if you want to be here, of course as part of your Oath of Allegiance you should say you’re willing to defend our country,” he stressed.
The Louisiana Republican argued that there should be expectations and requirements for those wishing to immigrate to the U.S.
“To me, if somebody wants to come to America, if they want to immigrate, they should come legally, learn English, adopt our values, roll up their sleeves and get to work. One of the things I’ve said is I no longer — I think we need to get away from hyphenated Americans. We’re all Americans. We should unify. To me this is the opposite of that,” Jindal said.
“It is ludicrous that we would allow people to come to our country, allow them to become, again, that’s just a form of invasion,” he added.
With less than two years left of Obama’s presidency, Jindal noted that he remains concerned about what could be ahead.
“What I worry about are these last 18 months. I worry this could be a pattern, who knows what other regulations or changes they’re going to try to force through,” he said referencing Obama’s Iran deal and EPA water regulations. “Who knows what else this administration is going to try to do in the last 18 months,” he said.
“You’ve got a lame duck president who, in my view, is trying to change the definition of America,” he said, going on to reference Obama’s focus on political correctness and avoidance of the idea of “radical Islamic terrorism,” Jindall added.
He noted that the modifications to the Oath requirements is another example of Obama’s lack of belief in “American exceptionalism.”
“This President took an oath to defend the Constitution, to defend America. It looks like he’s just given up on America,” Jindal said.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.