Kasich: Border Security First, Then Have Guest Worker Program

Ohio Governor and Republican presidential candidate John Kasich said that after securing the border, he would “have a guest worker program” and that “our program is too narrow now” on Tuesday’s “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel.

Kasich said [relevant remarks being around 1:40]that revoking passports of people “visiting countries known to support terrorism or those people known to have terrorist ties” is “probably a very, very good idea.”

Hannity then stated, “You supported, at one point, a pathway to citizenship.” Kasich answered, “No, what I said is I wouldn’t take it off the table. Here’s my answer on this. First of all, finish the fence, use modern technologies, drones, sensors and all these things.” After stating border security would come first, Kasich continued, “Then, have a guest worker program so people can come in, work, and then leave. Our program is too narrow now. The 12 million that are here, I think we ought to find out who they are. Obviously, they’re going to have to pay a penalty for having jumped the fence. But at the same time, if they’ve committed crimes, they’ve got to be deported or put in jail. If anybody’s been sneaking in recently, they should to be sent back. And we need to look at our whole immigration system. But, we’ve got to fix this. And all the political debate, and the polls, and all that other nonsense, just get it fixed. And you know what Reagan did? Reagan did amnesty.”

Later, Kasich said that while he supported the Assault Weapons Ban, he’s “a 2nd Amendment guy.” And pointed to his A rating from the NRA last year. When asked if he regretted the vote for the AWB, he stated, “I don’t regret that I learned something. And I learned you can put that kind of law in but it isn’t going to have impact, so why pass law that’s aren’t going to have impact?”

Kasich added that he would support allowing law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons.

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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