Immigration without integration is 'invasion': Bobby Jindal

Says US must insist immigrants do a better job of assimilating into American culture to avoid problems facing Europe

Distancing himself once again from being seen as an Indian-American, Republican presidential aspirant Bobby Jindal has said immigration without adopting American values represents an "invasion".

"We need to move away from hyphenated Americans. We're not African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Indian-Americans, rich or poor Americans. We're all Americans," the 44-year-old Louisiana Governor said.

"The reason this is so important, immigration without integration is not immigration, it's invasion. My parents are proud of their Indian heritage, but they came here to be Americans and they love this country. They wanted to raise their children as Americans," Jindal told ABC News in an interview aired yesterday.

Jindal said the US must insist that immigrants do a better job of assimilating into American culture to avoid problems facing Europe.

"We don't make people come here. If they want to come here, they should want to be Americans. Millions of people across this world want to come here. A smart immigration policy allows people to come here legally that makes our country stronger. That's just common sense," he said.

Notwithstanding his 13th rank among 17 presidential hopefuls, Jindal also said that he is the best Republican contender for the White House and is headed towards becoming party's nominee.

"I think after we get past this summer of silliness and insults, the voters are going to begin to look at who is prepared to do the job. Who has the intelligence, who has the courage, who has the experience? I believe I'm the candidate best able to do this job on the first day," Jindal said.

"Look I think I'm going to be the nominee. I think Donald Trump (the leading Republican aspirant) has done a great job tapping into the anger, the frustration that voters feel, not only with (US) President (Barack) Obama but with the Republican leadership as well," he said.

Dismissing that his campaign does not seem to be catching fire at all, he said, "I disagree with that. We're seeing great momentum in Iowa. We're seeing standing only crowds. What I see is that voters haven't committed to any candidate yet.