ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Latest from the Florida Republican Party’s Sunshine Summit, where the major GOP presidential hopefuls are wooing voters and activists for their support in the state’s March 15 primary. All times are local.
1:45 p.m.
Republican presidential candidate Lindsay Graham says he wants to fix immigration and fix it forever, because Republicans risk losing a generation of Hispanic voters over the contentious issue.
He says on Friday the U.S. needs legal immigration but says he wants to “pick people from all around the world, not just Mexico.”
Graham says the federal government cannot deport 11 million people and that the best way to find “the bad people” among them is to have “the good people” come forward.
The South Carolina senator says he would require those living here illegally to take an English exam, pay a fine and pass a criminal background check to remain in the U.S.
1:30 p.m.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has come into the home state of two rivals and made a case to win its Republican presidential primary.
Cruz received a more enthusiastic reception than Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) during the Florida Republican Party’s presidential summit.
He says Texas and Florida have a lot in common. They’re Southern states where a lot of immigrants live and they’re low-tax states where the economy is growing.
He then joked, “We also share a similar dislike for snow.”
Cruz says Florida’s March 15 primary will be important in choosing a nominee and tells party activists they can select a true conservative.
He also tells a life story similar to Rubio’s. Both are sons of Cuban immigrants whose fathers worked low-paying jobs after arriving in the country.
1:15 p.m.
Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio says the 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally will need to wait at least 10 years to gain legal status because the federal government must prove it can secure its borders and modernize its immigration system.
Rubio says he’s “puzzled” and “surprised” by Sen. Ted Cruz’ attacks on him about immigration because the Texas senator’s position “is not much different from mine.”
Rubio made his remarks Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, during the state party’s two-day Sunshine Summit. All the major GOP presidential hopefuls are scheduled.
Cruz has criticized Rubio for his role in authoring an immigration bill in 2013 that passed the Senate but failed in the House.
Rubio now says that a single, comprehensive immigration bill is not the way to go.
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