Which is it? Mr. Rubio
By Raisa Camargo
From VOXXI
Sen. Marco Rubio stirred the pot on immigration reform during an interview this week raising questions as to whether he would support comprehensive immigration reform.
During an interview with Politico’s Mike Allen’s “Playbook Breakfast” Wednesday morning, the Junior Senator indicated that he was in favor of a piece meal approach to comprehensive immigration reform.
“I certainly believe portions of immigration reform can be dealt with quicker than others,” said Rubio.
He later clarified that he supports a comprehensive set of immigration reform bills and that can be dealt separately such as the DREAM Act, guest worker visas and border security.
“It’s going to be a lot easier, not easy, but a lot easier both politically and from a policy perspective, to deal with those folks who are here undocumented if you deal with those other issues.”
Although Rubio has been targeted as the main candidate that can attract Latino votes for the GOP party, some critics were quick to criticize his stance. Not everyone might be in favor of a piece meal approach.
Mahwish Khan wrote a blog post on America’s Voice signaling that Rubio needs to clarify his position if he is going to advocate for immigration reform:
“Florida GOP Senator Marco Rubio has been talking about immigration lately. But, he’s not making himself very clear,” wrote Khan. “President Obama is going to make it a priority. Rubio can be part of the solution – or he can continue to be part of the problem. And, the solution is citizenship for 11 million.”
A Senate source told VOXXI in a previous interview that Rubio’s position as a Tea Party darling might put him between a rock and a hard place if he decides to bid for a presidential run in 2016.
Speculation seems to dictate that might be the case. The Senator is often careful with framing his responses and his visit to Iowa two days after the Election Day signaled he might be heading down that path. Anything he says garners plenty of attention as some are spotlighting him as the savior of the GOP party when it comes to the Latino vote.
And just this week, Rubio made a speech on how his party needs to embrace those who are aspiring to be part of the middle class. Still, as Khan was quick to point out, his remarks might raise more questions than answers. This is also comes in light of recent statements made by some GOP Senators such as Lyndsey Graham who seem to be shifting on providing citizenship.
According to CQ, Graham “suggested that he could support citizenship…with preconditions, including an emphasis on granting citizenship first to immigrants who are currently waiting to receive it,” writes CQ reporter, John Gramlich.
Said Graham, “I don’t like the European model of having millions of people in our country who can’t assimilate. It’s just not good for the culture. It’s just not good policy.”
Whether Rubio will champion immigration reform and come out in support of specific policy proposals like the DREAM Act is again questionable.
“Senator Rubio will have to decide which path he’ll choose. One path, the one that leads to citizenship, could provide some redemption for the GOP with Latinos. The other path – that GOP has been on for awhile, will lead them right off a demographic cliff,” Khan forewarned.
