Bush shrugged off the back-and-forth Wednesday night, calling Trump’s comments part of “this weird little controversy that I’m not a big party to” before outlining his border security plan and reiterating that he supports a path to legal status for illegal immigrants.

“You can love the Mexican culture, you can love your Mexican-American wife and also believe that we need to control the border,” Bush told the crowd. “This is a bizarre kind of idea that somehow you can have an affection for people in a different country and not think the rule of law should apply. This is ludicrous.”

He added that he would push to deploy “forward-leaning border control agents” closer to the actual border; use new technologies, including drones, to monitor border traffic; and fix the E-Verify system and stop providing law enforcement funding to “sanctuary cities” that refuse to work with federal agencies to deport illegal immigrants.

As for the nation’s illegal immigrants, Bush said “I honestly think we need to provide a path to legalize status, not citizenship.”

Read the article “Jeb Bush Outlines Border Security Plan, Responds to Trump” on washingtonpost.com.