Ohio Gov. John Kasich (AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) - Ohio Gov. and former Republican presidential candidate John Kasich (R-Ohio) told an audience in Cleveland that he looks at immigration as an opportunity because Ohio has a “stagnant growth of population – we want people to come to Ohio.”

“When I look at immigration I look at a new level of energy,” Kasich told an International Republican Institute gathering on Tuesday.

“I look at immigration as an opportunity. One of the things that we face in Ohio is a stagnant growth of population – we want people to come to Ohio. We want to integrate these folks and we want them to become part of our economic dynamo. So this refrain we hear around the world, and I understand some of the problems we have, is this anti-immigration is unhealthy.”

Kasich also told the audience that he is concerned about extreme nationalism and isolationism.

“When I look around the world, what is it that I see, I see growing nationalism. There is nothing wrong with nationalism, until it becomes extreme -- we all love our countries. Secondly there is an increasing tide of isolationism, lets just take care of us, lets pull the shades down, lock the doors and lets just forget the rest of the world and take care of ourselves,” Kasich said.

The governor did not mention the issue of abortion. The Ohio Dept. of Health reports that 21,186 “induced pregnancy terminations were reported in Ohio for 2014.”

The report titled, Induced Abortions in Ohio says, “approximately one in nine women who obtained abortions in 2014 were under 20 years of age.”

Kasich is shunning the Republican National Convention hosted by his home state and he has not endorsed Trump.