The debate among Republican lawmakers on the pros and cons of the bipartisan immigration reform bill is a legitimate discussion that stands to strengthen the GOP's ties with immigrants.
That's the opinion of Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Senior Fellow of The Center on Global Prosperity at the Independent Institute — a non-profit, non-partisan, scholarly research and educational organization.
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"There’s a wonderful debate going on within the Republican Party. This is by no means a left wing issue," Llosa told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
A lot of Republicans "want immigration and have valued immigration forever," said Llosa, author of "Global Crossings: Immigration, Civilization, and America."
"Churchill was pro-immigration, Reagan was pro-immigration. Even Bush tried in 2007. This is a legitimate debate among them."
Llosa said he would caution against people considering the bill, written by the Gang of Eight, a group of Republican and Democratic Congressmen, more of a Democratic issue.
"Once you take this debate out of the equation, you will find a lot of immigrants developing ties to the Republican Party with Libertarian leaders."
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