Republican presidential nomination frontrunner Jeb Bush said it was time deal with the nation’s “broken immigration system” in a speech to the National Automobile Dealers Association on Friday — and that the government should “politely ask [immigrants] to leave.”

Bush, who formerly governed the state of Florida and is brother of former President George W. Bush, said that 40 percent of those who have arrived in the United States illegally have a legal visa and have simply overstayed their welcome, and government officials should simply track them down and ask them to leave, according to an International Business Times report.

Bush is adopting a tough stance on immigration that may play well with conservatives in what is likely to be a heated battle for the GOP nomination in the 2016 race for the White House.

The remarks were made public this week. Bush in the past has been out of step with Republicans on the issue, taking a more liberal stance. For example, he said last year that immigrants who enter illegally are acting out of “love” for their families.

During his speech, Bush also struck back at claims that the Obama administration had led a successful recovery of the economy ever since it crashed at the end of his brother’s tenure.

Bush argued that the country was still in recession, claiming that 60 percent of Americans still don’t feel that the economy has recovered. He said that while portfolios are recovering and the stock market is increasing, ordinary Americans are struggling to make ends meet and they aren’t seeing their salaries rise, according to the report.