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Immigrants who cross the border illegally often do so as an “act of love,” said former Florida governor Jeb Bush last week.

“It’s not a felony. It’s an act of love,” Bush said of the decision to cross the border illegally. “It’s an act of commitment to your family. I honestly think that that is a different kind of crime that — there should be a price paid, but it shouldn’t rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families.”

“Someone who comes to our country because they couldn’t come legally, they come to our country because their families — the dad who loved their children — was worried that their children didn’t have food on the table,” Bush also remarked at the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of his father George H. W.  Bush’s presidency.

“And they wanted to make sure their family was intact,” Bush continued, “and they crossed the border because they had no other means to work to be able to provide for their family.”

Bush’s stance on immigration puts him at odds with certain members of the GOP.

Bush is set to make a decision as to whether or not he will run for president in 2016 by the end of the year.

This story was produced by The Foundry’s news team. Nothing here should be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation.