Senator and presidential candidate Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that his position on immigration hasn’t changed in an interview broadcast on Monday’s “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel.
When asked if he had changed his position on immigration by saying that people wouldn’t accept immigration reform until they were sure the border is secure, he stated “no, I think we — still need to do immigration reform. I talked today about needing to modernize our immigration system. And I think the American people are prepared to do that, but not until they know that future illegal immigration is under control, and right now, they have a president that refuses to enforce the immigration laws. In fact, through executive order, has ordered his agencies not to enforce his immigration laws. So, I think immigration reform as long as Barack Obama is president is virtually impossible. I think we need a president that first, begins to enforce our laws, puts in place methods that improve the way we enforce the law, and if we do that, then I think people will be very reasonable after that about what to do with the 12 million that are here.”
Rubio added, “I think that if you’re in this country and you violated our immigration laws, — after we’ve proven illegal immigration is not going to happen in the future, that we have systems in place to keep that from happening. You have to come forward, undergo a background check, pay a fine, start paying taxes, and what you would get is a work visa that allows you to be in this country to work and to travel, and that’s all you should be allowed to have for at least a decade or longer. And after that, they would be allowed to apply for permanent residency like anybody else would, not a special process. I know that there are people out there that say, ‘no, they should only have the work permit for the rest of their lives.’ I don’t think that’s necessarily a good idea, but if that’s the only way we can move forward on it, I would explore it.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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