Indian-American Republican presidential nomination candidate Bobby Jindal has joined leading candidate Donald Trump in calling for an end to automatic birthright citizenship in the United States. Just one day after Trump’s tough plan to fight illegal immigration was revealed, Jindal tweeted that he agreed with the need to put an end to birthright citizenship.
The 44-year-old Governor of Louisiana is currently trailing in the polls, with the latest poll by CNN indicating that he has the support of less than 1% of Republican voters. This is in stark contrast to the current popularity of the flamboyant and controversial real estate magnate. “Immigration without assimilation is invasion”, Jindal claimed over the weekend at an event hosted in Columbus by the conservative Americans for Prosperity.
Jindal went on to say that if he were to be elected president next year, he would secure the southern border with Mexico within his first six months in office. Trump has called for a wall to be built along the border, for US immigration officers to be tripled in number, and for all “criminal aliens” to be deported from the country. Trump also wants the minimum wage for those who arrive on the H-1B US visa to be raised.
The current policy for US immigration is “dumb”, Jindal claims. “A smart immigration policy will make our country stronger – a dumb immigration policy will make it weaker,” he believes. Trump’s comments and agenda have caused controversy in the media, yet his popularity only seems to have increased, resulting in an increasing number of Republican presidential nomination candidates hardening their stance on immigration.