Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution is a 2013 non-fiction book about immigration in the United States co-written by Jeb Bush, who served as the governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007, and Clint Bolick, who serves as the vice president of litigation at the Goldwater Institute in Phoenix, Arizona.
Background
The book was co-written by Jeb Bush and Clint Bolick. Bush is the son of the 41st president of the United States, George H. W. Bush and the brother of the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush. He served as the governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is the founder and chairman of the Foundation for Florida's Future, a conservative think tank, and chairman of Foundation for Excellence in Education. Bolick is an attorney, former Libertarian candidate, and founder of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian public-interest law firm. He serves as the vice president of litigation at the Goldwater Institute, another conservative think tank in Phoenix, Arizona.
The book was announced in the fall of 2012 and released in March 2013 by Simon & Schuster.
Content
The book starts with a preface written by Jeb Bush, followed by another preface written by Clint Bolick. In his, Bush reminds the reader that the issue of immigration is close to home for him, as his wife, Columba Bush, was born in Mexico. Bolick, on the other hand, explains that he often had to deal with immigration cases as an attorney.
Chapter 1, 'A Proposal for Immigration Reform,' lays out a new vision for immigration policy, including encouraging a demand-driven system as opposed to national quotas, and teaching civics to new immigrants. Chapter 2, 'The Immigration Imperative,' argues that immigration is a positive good for the United States. Chapter 3, 'The Rule of Law.' talks about the necessity to enforce the law to legal immigrants. Chapter 4, 'An Enduring Debate,' presents a history of discrimination against immigrants to the United States, from the Germans to the Chinese. Chapter 5, 'The Human Dimension,' presents seven biographical sketches of immigrants who have lived the American Dream. Finally, Chapter 6, 'Immigration and Education,' is on education and immigration, and they champion charter schools and digital education.
The book ends with a "post-script", 'Postscript: A Prescription for Republicans.' It presents some advice to presidential candidate Mitt Romney, counseling him to be more pro-immigration.
Promotional efforts
On March 04, 2013, Bush and Bolick gave a question-and-answer session about the book at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank in New York City. They were introduced by Daniel Henninger, the Deputy Editorial Page Editor at The Wall Street Journal. The co-authors were also scheduled to appear at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C., on March 06, 2013, but their engagement was canceled due to "inclement weather." Later that month, Bush presented the book at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The talk was broadcast on C-SPAN's Book TV five times in March and April 2013. In November 2013, Bush talked about the book at the 92nd Street Y on the Upper East Side in New York City.
Critical reception
Critical reception of the book in the press was mixed and at times controversial.