Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania says that even his father, who was stuck for some time in Benito Mussolini’s Italy, wasn’t upset with America for his situation.
“I’m the son of an immigrant, I believe in immigration, but my dad spent seven years in fascist Italy under Mussolini because my grandfather couldn’t bring him into this country until he became a citizen and when he did, he brought him over,” Mr. Santorum, a 2016 GOP presidential candidate, said this week on Fox News’ “The Kelly File.”
“I said, ’Were you ever upset with America because they separated you from your dad for seven years?’ ” he said. “He said, ’No — America was worth the wait.’ And so I look at it as someone who’s said you know what? America is worth the wait — it’s worth doing it the right way.”
In his announcement speech on Wednesday, Mr. Santorum said that over the last 20 years, “we’ve brought into this country, legally and illegally, 35 million mostly unskilled workers. And the result over that same time, workers’ wages and family incomes have flatlined.”
“Hillary Clinton and big business, they have called for a massive influx in unskilled labor,” he said Wednesday. “Business does it because they want to control costs. Hillary does it, well, she just wants votes. Their priorities are profits and power. My priority is you, the American worker.”
In the Fox appearance, Mr. Santorum called for enforcing the laws, installing a national E-Verify system and securing the border.
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“Look, ISIS is talking about bringing a nuclear weapon, they believe they can smuggle it through our southern border — we need to have a much more secure border not just for immigrants who want to come here illegally, but for other people who want to do other things that are very dangerous to this country,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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