Posted on 06/15/2012 1:23:30 PM PDT by Red Steel
A GOP senator on the short list to be Mitt Romney's running mate is applauding President Obama's move to forego deportations for some illegal immigrants.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said the more lenient policy is "welcome news" for those immigrants who will benefit, though he was quick to knock the administration for acting unilaterally.
“Today’s announcement will be welcome news for many of these kids desperate for an answer, but it is a short term answer to a long term problem," the Cuban-American Rubio said in a statement. "And by once again ignoring the Constitution and going around Congress, this short term policy will make it harder to find a balanced and responsible long term one.”
Rubio's comments are a stark contrast to those coming from other Republicans, who are blasting the new rules as a threat to U.S. jobs and – in the words of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) – "possibly illegal."
Rubio's remarks also further complicate the position of GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who took a hard conservative line against illegal immigrants amid the heat of the GOP primary but is now searching for ways to soften that stance to appeal to Hispanic voters, who will be vital in a number of swing states in November.
Neither Romney nor GOP leaders on Capitol Hill – including House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) – have weighed in on the new policy.
It's not the first time Rubio has bucked his party on immigration. Earlier in the year, the freshman Republican vowed he'll be introducing a version of the Dream Act – which would offer legal resident status for certain illegal immigrant students and military personnel – and urged GOP leaders, including Romney, to get onboard.
"There is broad support for the idea that we should figure out a way to help kids who are undocumented through no fault of their own, but there is also broad consensus that it should be done in a way that does not encourage illegal immigration in the future," Rubio said Friday. "This is a difficult balance to strike, one that this new policy, imposed by executive order, will make harder to achieve in the long run."
Rubio has yet to introduce his Dream Act bill.
Perhaps recognizing the GOP's dilemma, the Obama administration's new rules will allow qualifying illegal immigrants who were brought to the country as children to remain in the country. The policy does not go as far as the current version of the Dream Act – there's no pathway to citizenship, for instance – but it would allow beneficiaries to work without fear of deportation.
"Our nation’s immigration laws must be enforced in a firm and sensible manner,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday in a statement announcing the policy. “But they are not designed to be blindly enforced without consideration given to the individual circumstances of each case."
The change builds on the DHS's move last August to provide new leniency for young illegal immigrants by eliminating blanket exile for those in the process of being deported.
Instead, DHS officials said they will perform case-by-case reviews, prioritizing violent criminals and other public threats, while closing the books on students and others they deem harmless.
Immigrant rights advocates welcomed the move, but warned at the time that the new policy would be only as good as DHS's adherence to it.
Friday's announcement is indication that the agency has heeded those warnings from the left and won't shy from its vows to spare young illegals deportation.
Still, both the White House and Capitol Hill Democrats were quick to caution that the administration's move is no substitute for congressional action on the Dream Act.
"The president’s actions were necessary due to the gridlock which has sadly become a normal condition for Congress," Rep. Charlie Gonzales (D-Texas), chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said in a statement. "[But] a legislative remedy is still needed."
Obama last September said he's not able to halt deportations unilaterally by executive order.
"With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case," he said during an interview with Univision.
Friday's policy change was made through the DHS, however, not by executive order.
The change takes effect immediately.
Remember when we used to think these people were Republicans?
The headline is misleading, and nowhere does it claim he “applauds” Obama — in fact, he attacks him for acting in an unconstitutional manner.
He didn’t say HE welcomed the news. He said it was welcome news for the kids.
Just like a decision not to carry out a death penalty would be “welcome news” to the man on death row.
We have to push Romney far to the right again.
Rubio does have a problem with his identity.
Here he is trying to convince you how "American" he is, or he's trying to convince himself.
The title of his new book - "An American Son."
-snip-
Boston Globe: "The bus tour, set for the week of the Fourth of July holiday, is aimed at promoting his autobiography, "An American Son," to be released in June. "
I’d say it was deliberately misleading and designed to defame Sen. Rubio. Sadly there seems to be no shortage of deep thinkers on this thread ready and eager to take the bait and attack another of our own. Again.
Rubio is not the best answer on the illegal immigration issue, BUT he IS NOT a supporter of open borders or blanket amnesty. Please don't misrepresent his position.
This man is no friend of conservatives.
So what does that mean there should only be white politicians? I don’t get what you’re trying to say here.
I don't see how. His and other immigration bills allow this - but in law. He's not attacking the substance but the means.
Obama admitted this himself, just last year on this exact same question:
“With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case, because there are laws on the books that Congress has passed.” ...
“There are enough laws on the books by congress that are very clear in terms of how we have to enforce our immigration system. That for me to simply, through executive order, ignore those congressional mandates - that would not conform with my appropriate role as president.”
This is also the basis of Rep. King's plan to sue the administration for implementing something that should have required legislative process and approval.
So there's two parts to objection. Rubio is being consistent on the first here. You may disagree, but for him to not take this position would be two-faced.
IMHO, the GOP needs to be consisted in how they attack this - either on its result or on the president violating his limits of power.
Someone with talent should make a lifesize billboard out of this to be placed wherever politicians make ludicrous illegal alien pandering statements. Here gringo, illegal alien lover, this is what your beloved illegals really think of you! They want to take over your country, fool!
Are there any conservatives left in politics anymore?
I didn't misrepresent squat. My fist statement stands. Rubio is a guy who wants it both ways as in talking out his rear end.
Rubio has turned in to a real idiot!Gee, not long ago there were dimwits all over FR crying for Rubio as the next President or at least Vice President.
The team of Obama and Rubio are promoting a bad plan. It is the wrong thing to do and will ony harm this country.
“Rubio has turned in to a real idiot!:
NO, he’s just showing his true colors. Just another Hispanic “plant” that’s made it into the government to subvert it as necessary so as to allow his “Brown Bretheren” illegal entree into this country. Blacks and Browns, it’s all about skin color!!
Rubio's plan or at least one he is talking up with NBC to be broadcast on the "Sunday Morning" show.
Marco Rubio talks immigration, Dream Act, amnesty
snip
Of his proposal Rubio said, "I think I've found significant support for it, both in my own party and hopefully with some Democrats, that allows us to address the issue of these kids in a humanitarian way, that allows us to recognize that what we want to do is give these kids a chance to get right what their parents got wrong, but not do it in a way that incentivizes people to do this in the future, and doesn't undermine our legacy as a nation of laws."
"Will your plan give amnesty?" asked O'Donnell.
"No, it's not an amnesty plan," Rubio replied. "The plan basically would award the kids who meet a certain criteria - they got here by a certain age, have lived here, graduated from high school, don't have a criminal record, want to go to college - they get what, in essence, is a student visa, and thereafter, a work visa.
"And after some period of time, probably 10 years, we would then allow them to access the immigration system just like any non-immigrant visa holder in the United States would. ... So they'd be no worse off than anybody else, but no better off, either. No special path. Just the same path as everyone else."end snip
Rubio then went on to voice his disapproval of current policy and stated that Obama's action, which correctly he called 'unconstitutional,' would make it more difficult to come to a good policy regarding immigration.
First he says he welcomes it then buts his own statement?
We know by his own words that Rubio says he is authoring the Republican Dream Act, but we don't know what it says yet. You can bet that it is another way to appease illegal immigration by putting a Republican face on it. Hello.
So there's two parts to objection. Rubio is being consistent on the first here. You may disagree, but for him to not take this position would be two-faced.
It is double talk.
Most people here would deport every child here illegally.
Rubio does not believe that is the correct thing to do. He wants to change the law to provide a way for some of those children to stay in this country.
Since I think it would be stupid to try to push a policy of deporting all of these children, I agree with Rubio, therefore I don’t like that they misquote him and make him sound worse on the subject than he is to the strong anti-illegal movement.
But for those who want to deport every one of these children, I don’t think a little misquoting of Rubio bothers them. He’s evil, and so he deserves it.
I won’t overly characterize this debate, but I wouldn’t be surprised if most everybody who is strongly attacking Rubio now have never actually met one of these children, and have no idea what the actual circumstances are for which they are advocating deportation.
For me, I just don’t see the point of taking a child who just graduated high school, speaks nothing but english, has lived nowhere but america their entire lives, and is a functioning, productive member of our society, and throwing them back into a country they’ve never really lived in, whose language they don’t know, leaving them destitute and unable to have a life of any kind.
Sure, we CAN do it — but why would we want to do it?
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