Former Sen. Rick Santorum bet most of his chips on the immigration issue during the Wednesday night GOP debates, likely gambling he can win some of Donald Trump’s pro-American supporters over the next few weeks.

“This debate should not be about what we’re going to do with someone who’s here illegally,” the former Pennsylvania Senator declared during the undercard debate against fellow low-polling candidates.

“This debate should be about what… What’s in the best interest of hardworking Americans? What’s in the best interest of our country?”

“Seventy [percent] to 90 percent of people who’ve come into this country — 35 million over the last 20 years —  are wage-earners that are holding [Americans’] wages down, taking jobs away from America,” he said

That was all too much for Sen. Lindsey Graham, the liberal GOP Senator who jump-started the “Gang of Eight” amnesty bill in December 2012. “The bottom line, I’m trying to fix the problem,” said Graham, who has strong support from the many tourist and agriculture companies in his state that use migrant or illegal labor.

“We’re not going to deport 11 million people here illegally… [I say] you can stay, but you got to learn our language,” said Graham.

Next, Graham said Americans need huge numbers of foreign migrants to do low-wage work. “In 1950, there were 16 workers for every retiree. How many are there today? There’s three. In 20 years, there’s going to be two, and you’re going to have 80 million baby boomers like me retiring en masse wanting a Social Security check and their Medicare bills paid,” he said.

“We’re going to need more legal immigration… Let’s pick people from all over the world on our terms, not just somebody from Mexico,” Graham said. “Legal immigrants” is a code word for blue-collar workers and white-collar professionals who would compete for jobs sought by Americans and so drive down wage-costs paid by American companies.

“What’s in the best interest of America right now is to look at wages, look at employment among [Americans] wage-earners,” Santorum countered.