Christie says criticism of FedEx-like immigrant tracking is 'ridiculous'

By David Morgan
WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris
Christie pushed back on Sunday against "ridiculous" criticism of
his new proposal to track foreign visitors the way FedEx (NYSE:FDX) tracks
packages, saying government needs private sector expertise to
tackle illegal immigration.
"I don't mean people are packages, so let's not be
ridiculous," the Republican presidential candidate told an
interviewer on Fox News Sunday who pointed out that foreigners
don't have labels on their wrists.
"This is once again a situation where the private sector
laps us in the government with the use of technology," Christie
said. "We should bring in the folks from FedEx to use the
technology to be able to do it. There's nothing wrong with
that."
Christie said on Saturday that if elected president, he
would use a FedEx-like system to make sure visitors who enter
the United States legally on visas depart the country when their
time is up. He maintains that 40 percent of illegal immigrants
with visas overstay their visits.
The governor, who is running well behind among the 17
contenders in the Republican White House race, sought to draw a
distinction between his proposal and what he called Republican
frontrunner Donald Trump's "simplistic" idea on how to deal with
an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
Trump, who has a 21-point lead over his closest Republican
rival, Mike Huckabee, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey
ID:nL1N1131HC , has said he would deport undocumented
immigrants and build a wall between the United States and
Mexico.
"I've put forward a much more detailed proposal than that,"
said Christie, adding that the presidential race was "not only
about personality. It's also about ideas. And it's about who can
get it done."
Christie has said he would ask FedEx FDX.N Chief Executive
Officer Fred Smith to devise the tracking system. A FedEx
spokeswoman declined to comment on his remarks.
Trump's railing about illegal immigrants has prompted other
Republicans to talk tougher on immigration but has also rattled
Republican Party leaders who are desperate to attract support
from Latino voters who have Democrat Hillary Clinton's pledge to
seek citizenship for illegal immigrants if elected in 2016.
On NBC's "Meet the Press" program, Wisconsin Governor Scott
Walker said he would be open to building a wall along the U.S.
border with Canada -- not just the southern border with Mexico.
"Some people have asked us about that in New Hampshire. They
raised some very legitimate concerns, including some law
enforcement folks that brought that up to me at one of our town
hall meetings about a week and a half ago. So that is a
legitimate issue for us to look at," he said.