Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson proposed sending U.S. companies to Central and South America to teach them “the Ag business” while making “big profits” as a way to stop illegal immigration.
Following Tuesday’s Fox Business GOP debate, Carson revealed details of his immigration plan during a press conference in Lynchburg, Virginia.
“It is not a difficult thing to do,” Carson told reporters. “As was demonstrated in Yuma County, Arizona where they stopped 97 percent of illegal immigration simply by putting up a double fence with an asphalt road in between so there was quick access, actually putting border guards on the border — which is a novel concept — and prosecuting first time offenders.”
“I think you can get pretty close to 100 percent,” he continued. “The other thing you have to do is you have to decrease the incentives for people to come here. So, you have to get rid of all of the things that they would be getting if they can get through the system. Therefore, they say, ‘What is the point?'”
Carson admitted that certain business “would collapse” without the help of undocumented workers. He said that he would allow the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are currently in the U.S. to stay as guest workers if they were “willing to work in industries where we need them.”
“The other thing that we have to keep in mind is we’re compassionate people,” he added. “And you know, like in Cameroon right now, there are American companies over there who are helping to develop millions of acres [of] incredibly fertile land, growing record crops, getting big profits, which is great for them.”
“But at the same time, they’re building the infrastructure of that nation, creating jobs their and teaching them the Ag business so they carry on themselves. And at the same time, creating friends for the United States,” Carson opined. “There’s no reason we can’t do the same thing in other parts of the world, including Central and South America so people won’t feel a necessity to come here.”
Watch the video below from CNN, broadcast Nov. 11, 2015.
