CEDAR RAPIDS — Rick Santorum, who says he wants to make American the No. 1 nation for manufacturing, took his campaign to a Cedar Rapids production facility where he talked to employees about his plans for to stem the flow of immigrants — both legal and illegal — who are taking jobs like theirs and keeping wages low.

The former Pennsylvania senator who is seeking the GOP nomination for president wants to capitalize on falling energy costs as well as tax incentives to employers to bring jobs back from overseas to provide opportunities for the 93 million people in the workforce who aren’t working.

“If we create the right atmosphere, we can bring the jobs back,” Santorum said during a visit to Apache, Inc., which fabricates and distributes hose, belting, cut and molded rubber, and industrial consumer products for domestic and international customers.

Santorum was on a daylong swing through Eastern Iowa with stops in Toledo, Belle Plaine, Independence and Manchester as well as Cedar Rapids. He’ll be in Dubuque Tuesday before heading to Washington to deliver a “major policy address” on his systemwide immigration reforms.

President Barack Obama and Democrats welcome immigrants because they think the newcomers will support their party, Santorum said. Some Republicans turn a blind eye to illegal immigration because it helps keep labor costs lower, “but it doesn’t help workers.”

“Neither is right,” Santorum said, adding that in addition to his plans for securing the border, he’s the only candidate with an immigration policy that calls for less legal immigration.

“One of the things I’ve been adamant about is that we have to create a better opportunity for workers in this country to get better wages,” he said after taking questions from employees on the shop floor. “We have a supply problem. We’ve let 35 million people into this country in the last 20 years and during that same period of time we have seen wages darn near stagnate. We got to change that.”

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He will call for a 25 percent reduction in legal immigration. Even then, Santorum said, it will be the largest number of immigrants allowed into America in any time before the last 20 years.

One area he would look at is the H-1B — the skilled worker visa.

“It turns out they’re not that skilled after all,” he said.

Santorum met with Apache’s management team before touring the plant. Apache CEO Tom Pientok told employees Santorum’s visit was an opportunity to participate in the greatest process in the world “as screwed up as it can seem to be.”