Rubio: We Need The Illegals Legalized In Order To Pay For Border Security

Byron York noted that Rubio stated that he should have been more artful in his comments to Univision, where he stated that the illegals would be legalized before any sort of border security. I wonder how he’ll walk this one back, via Byron

(Washington Examiner) Why is it necessary to legalize the roughly 11 million currently-illegal immigrants in the U.S. before newly enhanced border security and internal enforcement measures are in place? Sen. Marco Rubio, the leading Republican on the Senate’s Gang of Eight, says part of the reason is that the federal government can’t afford to secure the border on its own and needs financial help from the immigrants themselves, in the form of fines paid when they are legalized.

Rubio made the statement during a radio interview after he voted against an amendment from Republican Sen. Charles Grassley that would have put off legalization until after the border is secure – a position supported by majorities of voters across the political spectrum. Host Andrea Tantaros asked Rubio why he opposed something that was important “to so many in the Republican party?”

First he stated that “We cannot wait another four years with 11 million people living in this country illegally without knowing who they are or why they’re here” when noting that it would take at least 4 years to get enhanced border security in place. And then

But there was another reason. “We need to register them as soon as possible, not just to keep the problem from getting worse, but we’re going to require them to pay a fine, and that’s the money that we are going to use to pay for the border security,” Rubio explained. “If we don’t get that fine money from the people that have violated our immigration laws, then the American taxpayer is going to have to pay for border security.”

This is because Rubio seem disinclined to spend taxpayer money on apparently low level issues like securing and protecting the US southern border. He doesn’t want to borrow and spend the money. Peering into my crystal ball, once the illegals are given legal status, we’ll hear that we haven’t gotten enough money out of them to pay for border security, so, hey, we had a good idea, it didn’t work, so let’s get on with making them voting citizens for 2016.

Then there’s this, which has to be taken with a grain of salt, since the Daily Caller doesn’t say where Rubio made the statement

Sen. Marco Rubio stayed away from specific immigration reform policies during a talk Thursday, reiterating that America must be recognized as an exemplary nation that welcomes those seeking freedom they don’t have in their home countries.

“What we have is special,” Rubio said. “Every single human life is worthy of the protection of our values. Who else will do it if not us?”

The Florida Republican also appealed to America’s religious heritage, asserting that as the “salt of the earth,” the United States has a duty to be compassionate to the less-fortunate.

This is the same type of impassioned emotional plea that Democrats make, while also noting that it would be un-American to refuse to accept these people who broke our laws, continuously flouted out laws, drain our social services, demand that they be provided with goods and services, demand that everyone else speak Spanish and provide writings in Spanish, and, in some case, commit crime, including violent ones up to murder, against American citizens. Oh, and let’s not forget the fun one where Mexican illegals demand that the US Southwest be returned to Mexico, or turned into a new Hispanic nation separate from the US.

Morning update: yes, big grain of salt (actually, it is more a steaming pile of mule fritters from the DC), since what Rubio was talking about was getting involved in the Syrian conflict, not immigration. The DC misrepresented what Rubio stated.

Meanwhile, Paul Ryan wants to debate anyone who is calling the Gang of 8 bill “amnesty”. Perhaps he should debate the 2010 Marco Rubio.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.

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