GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum took on the issue of mass immigration and it’s effect on American workers during last night’s Republican Presidential debate.
Specifically, he attacked Sen. Lindsey Graham’s lax position on border security and amnesty.
“We have an immigration policy that Senator Graham supported that brings in even more low-wage workers into this country. He says he wants to solve problems. That’s great, but you’re not solving problems for American wage earners,” Santorum challenged. “You’re not solving problems for workers in America, who have seen their wages flatline and have been disaffected enough to leave the workplace.”
Santorum said that America is facing the lowest labor participation rate in 50 years and pointed out that roughly 35 million legal and illegal immigrants have entered the U.S. in the past two decades.
“We have low wages, low participation rates. Maybe there’s something going on, like we don’t have the right match, right? We aren’t giving the training and the investment in our workers, and we’re bringing in people to compete against low-wage workers. That’s what is happening,” he explained. “We need to get better training, better skills, including vocational education and training in community colleges.”
