Nikki Haley for merit based legal immigration

Indian American Republican leader would stop allowing any immigrants into the country before immigration reform

Indian American Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has called for legal immigration based on merit, talent and business needs and would stop allowing any immigrants into the country before immigration reform.

Legal immigration should be dependent on factors such as merit, talent and business needs, she told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

“Let’s not do it just because people happen to cross the fence and get away,” Haley said. “Let’s not do it because we have crowded facilities and we can’t hold anymore. That’s the wrong way to go about it. We have to make sure this is a national security issue.”

Read: Nikki Haley calls for competency test for politicians (May 1, 2023)

“We shouldn’t wait for another 9/11 to realize that Republicans and Democrats have to get in the room and figure out immigration reform and start working for the American people instead of the other way around,” she added.

Haley, first Indian American to serve in a presidential cabinet as US ambassador to UN under former President Donald Trump also distanced herself from Trump’s policy of separating migrant children from their parents.

It happened because lawmakers have long been at a stalemate on immigration reform, she said. “It should never get to that point.” Haley said when asked if she would revive the controversial policy as a deterrence to illegal border crossings.

“No, we should not be separating families, but we shouldn’t be taking families that we don’t have any control over.”

Before Title 42 — a pandemic-era emergency rule that allowed the Trump and Biden administrations to expel migrants without court hearings — ended last week, Customs and Border Protection apprehensions hit all-time highs.

READ: Nikki Haley joins 2024 US presidential race (February 14, 2023)

Haley blamed the crisis at the border on both Republicans and Democrats, saying it “should have been dealt with a long time ago and it wasn’t.” She indicated she would stop allowing any immigrants into the country until immigration reform is passed.

“I think we need to stop the bleeding of the border and completely do immigration reform before we can think of taking anybody else into this country,” she said.

On the issue of abortion, Haley, who describes herself as against abortion, said instituting a federal abortion ban is not “realistic.”

“I’m not going to lie to the American people. Nothing’s going to happen if we don’t get 60 votes in the Senate. We’re not even close to that on the Republican or the Democrat side,” she said when asked about what kind of limits on abortion she would seek if elected president.

“At the federal level, it’s not realistic. It’s not being honest with the American people,” she added.

“Why not talk about the fact that we should be trying to save as many babies as possible and support as many mothers as possible?”

Read: GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley says “we should not be separating families” at border (May 14, 2023)

She called for the elimination of “late-term abortions,” and voiced support for adoption and increased access to contraception. As governor in 2016, she signed a law that banned abortions in South Carolina after 20 weeks.

“You know, there’s some states that have been pro-life, I welcome that. There are some states that have erred on the side of abortion. I wish that wasn’t the case, but it is. I think that we need to make sure that people’s voices are heard,” Haley said.