Rubio Backs Trump, Tells Pope: ‘We Have A Right To Have Immigration Laws’

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Thursday on CNN’s “The Lead,” Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) responded to Pope Francis saying of Donald Trump, “a person who thinks only about building walls wherever they may be and not of building bridges is not Christian. This is not the Gospel.”

When asked about the comments, Rubio explained the United States is the “most compassionate and open country in the world on legal immigration,” but defended a sovereign country’s right to enforce its immigration law.

Rubio said, “I think the Holy Father recognizes or should recognize — and I believe he does — how generous America is. We accept, every year, close to a million or over a million people every year as permanent residents of the United States. No other country even comes close.”

He continued, “But we also have a right to have a system of laws by which we choose who gets comes in, when they get to come in and how they come in. Sovereign countries have a right to do that.”

He added, “As a government in charge of protecting our people we have a right to have immigration laws. No nation on earth is more compassionate. And as far as building walls on the border, the wall is not just about immigrants. It’s also about, potentially, terrorists crossing that border, not to mention the drugs that are coming across that border and the human trafficking that’s occurring because people know they can get people across the border.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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