Grant Woods voices support for Gang of 8’s immigration bill

Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods said he supports an immigration bill being proposed by a group of U.S. senators.

“They’ve done a tremendous job and both Sen. McCain and Sen. Flake deserve a lot of credit for this,” he told News/Talk 92.3 KTAR’s Karie & Chuck on Friday.

When it comes to handling all the different facets of immigrants, Woods feels the group of senators, known as the Gang of Eight, are right on track.

“The system is broken right now across the board. It’s not just immigrants from Mexico coming here illegally. We educate the best and brightest from around the world in our colleges and we don’t give them incentive to stay.”

He also said that the five-year path to citizenship for DREAMers and farm workers is a good idea.

“Everybody says, ‘Americans will do those jobs,’ but they won’t, they don’t,” said Woods. “Our farms need those workers.”

By registering those workers, Woods said the U.S. would move to ensure their wages are fair.

The bill creates a new status of immigrant, the registered provisional immigrant. Those people will not be considered citizens, but Woods said it will help the millions of undocumented illegals come out of the shadows.

“You don’t have to be afraid Sheriff Joe Arpaio is going to pull you over because you made an illegal right hand turn on a red light. It allows people to have a life.”

Woods said the senators need to act soon to pass the bill considering the House may look to delay and debate it.

“You need some momentum to get things done otherwise you don’t get things done,” he said. “They fade away.”