The Political Center Has Drifted Far to the Right In One Generation

Watch George Bush and Ronald Reagan Urge Compassion for Immigrants in 1980

The video below was recorded April 4, 1980, 8:00 p.m. at The Albert Thomas Convention Center, West Hall, in Downtown Houston. It was one of the several GOP debates leading up to the July 1980 GOP Convention in Detroit which nominated Reagan and Bush. A young man asks:

My name is David Grossberg and I’d like to know. Do you think the children of illegal aliens should be allowed to attend Texas Public School free, or do you think their parents should pay for their education?

Here are excerpts from their responses:

H.W. BUSH: I don’t want six and eight years old (to be) totally uneducated and made to feel that they are living outside the law . . . these are good people, strong people.

REAGAN: I think we haven’t been sensitive enough to our size and our power . . . Rather than talking about putting up a fence, why don’t we work out some recognition of our mutual problems and make it possible for them to come here legally with a work permit . . .

More information may be found at the Ronald R…