Jeb Bush Immigration Reform: Bush Flip-Flops; Will This Hurt His Rumored 2016 Run?

Former Republican Florida Governor Jeb Bush completely reversed course on his immigration policy stance.

Bush, brother of the 43rd President of the United States and son of the 41st and wildly popular among the Hispanic population of his home state, has now said he does not support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Fellow Floridian and equally popular politico Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the son of Cuban immigrants, has recently held a more moderate approach to the issue, joining a group of Senators in drafting relevant legislation. These comments by Bush are a departure from an issue with which the two originally agreed.

Jeb also distances himself from brother George in making these statements. The former President was seen as tough on immigration but also a major supporter of a 2007 bill endorsing a path for undocumented immigrants.

Jeb Bush referred to previous attempts to legalize undocumented immigrants as flawed and unnecessary.

"Half the people in [19]86 that could have gotten amnesty [under President Ronald Reagan's bill] didn't apply ... Not necessarily all of them wanted to stay as citizens," he said.

Bush wrote that a path to citizenship would incentivize further illegal immigration, a point with which fellow Republican John McCain, a senator from Arizona, disagreed.

"[Our plan] will make sure there's not a magnet [for people to come here illegally]," he said.

Bush called any attempt at creating a pathway to be an "undeserving reward for conduct we cannot afford to encourage." The former governor is still a supporter of the DREAM Act, which allows for certain undocumented immigrants to gain access to an American college education, seen by many in the conservative wing of the party as a center-left law, which goes against Bush's recent overall tone.

Some have said that Bush's reversal is merely an attempt to gain political capital among the conservative voting bloc of the Republican party. Though at the same time, Bush has been recently critical of the party's recent presidential candidate:

"Although Romney eventually called for comprehensive immigration reform, a platform that hardened the party's stance on immigration hung like an anvil around his candidacy," he said of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

As the Latin Times reported previously, Bush may indeed be seriously considering a run for higher office.

"We just had an election, and a lot will happen between now and the time that I would even begin to consider something like that. So, time would be the leading indicator," he recently told National Public Radio.