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.
I don't think this is true. He does not say he welcomes it. He says it will be "welcome news for many of these kids…"
So there's no 'but' that applies.
So.....you disagree with Rubio's statement that illegals will find Obama's unconstitutional proclamation "welcome news?" Really?
I come across LOTS of immigrants, legal and illegal. They DO want to stay here, Red. It's an undeniable fact. And being told they are going to be able to get their green card is "welcome news" to them whether you and I like it or not.
i feel exactly the same as you. I am heartbroken by this. I just don’t know what we can do now. How do we undo this?
Mi nombre es estúpido ... por eso soy la mejor oportunidad ilegales cada vez tendrá más beneficios de bienestar ... así que voten por tu Wee Wee! *
* For the benefit of you stupid and lazy Gringos who haven't yet learned to speak this country's new official language, the caption loosely says,"My name is stupid ... and I am the best opportunity you illegals will ever have for unlimited welfare ... so vote for your Wee Wee!"
Rubio did not say he welcomes it. He said they will welcome it.
According to my sixth-grade grammar book, The subject of the sentence is young illegals, not Mario Rubio.
Or are you saying that young illegals just want to go back to their home country and will be disappointed with Obama's action?
No, I find it unwelcome news for US citizens who want the immigration laws upheld by the executive branch, and to those who agree with upholding US sovereignty, and to those US citizens who do not want to be disenfranchised by illegal voting, which is the hidden agenda and objective of Obama. Rubio in the same vein wants to pander to a segment of society who are here illegally and their allies at the expense of US sovereignty.
I beg to differ with both you and Rubio.
"Latino" is not a synonym for “illegal alien”.
Baloney, 60% of Hispanics don't care much about amnesty one way or the other, and half of them don't even speak Spanish (including my neighbor). Tea Partier and Photo-IDer Susana Martinez got elected to Governor of New Mexico in 2010, the only state that has a majority Hispanic population.
My wife is a naturalized American citizen from Cuba. Her family spent years and thousands of dollars and followed the law. Her family is appalled by the DREAM Act.
You obviously don’t understand that:
1. “hispanic” means “Mexican”; “Cuban” means “Cuban”
2. Rubio is just another slippery lawyer who couldn’t care less about anyone’s ethnic background, but IS concerned about tapping into that sweet, sweet tax money that’s pouring into Washington
You need to stop feeling and start thinking about the complexities of easy prejudices.
Hispanics who are legal voters don't want open borders.
This is all about politicians getting payoffs from those who want open borders.
The kindest thing you could say about Rubio is his family has been threatened and he's a coward. Otherwise, Rubio is just on the take.
If Mitt was a man of character, he would call a press conference and tell the illegal aliens to make other plans because he, Mitt, will reverse everything Obama has done today.
No matter how you spin it, the Republican base sees this as a losing issue based on upholding federal law.
Do you remember how many of us Freepers ,posted , faxed , called Congress for months fighting against this Dream act?
And now this Communist Obama just passes this Dream ACT Amnesty for illegals by decree. Obama just gave Amnesty to illegals and this will bring many millions more here. You don't see a problem with that?
Yes deport them all . They are here illegally and many Americans are homeless and unemployed.
"the immigration discussion" is not a synonym of "illegal immigration" neither.
Two different issues all together.
They don’t care because they really have no country, they are the global elite. No matter who the peons are doing the scut work, they figure they will always be running the show from on high. All they want is labor, the cheaper and more uneducated the better. The few of our national politicians who aren’t part of this are either naive or just haven’t yet been co-opted into the “club” yet. They don’t stay there (as always, this is at the national level) if they don’t join the club, or at the least remain benign or neutral outsiders.
No it means every single hispanic I ever met and talked about on this issue supports illegals. EVERY SINGLE ONE!
Almost every hispanic politician feels the same way. Call me names and ignore reality if you want.
So this is how you reward the country that embraced you and your family and took you in? By sh!tting on us? I pray Romney looks elsewhere for a VP.
No it means every single hispanic I ever met and talked about on this issue supports illegals. EVERY SINGLE ONE!
Almost every hispanic politician feels the same way. Call me names and ignore reality if you want.
Its not racist to state the obvious, but if we do, we are called it anyway. Even so-called conservatives!
I wouldn’t have any trouble kicking them out. They are illegal. They cost us over $100,000 to educate for their public schooling and no telling how much more in welfare, etc.
Let them go to their home country and fix them. We have a real unemployment rate of almost 15% and to even consider this is pssing on American out of work.
It is always about *the children*. You know that plenty of legal immigrants come into the country and then decide to go back home again, and guess what? They have to bring their underage children back with them. Some of the children may have been born in a foreign country and others may have been born in the US, even children from the same family. These kids have to go back with their parents whether they are toddlers or teenagers who have lived most of their lives in the US. The effects of returning to their native lands is no different on these children of LEGAL immigrants than the effects on the children of ILLEGAL immigrants. It comes under the category of tough luck. Why is is that legal immigrants have to accept their tough luck but illegal immigrants cannot suffer any inconvenience or disappointment? Most illegals come from Mexico, how comvenient for them that they live so close to us. Unlike immigrants from far away, they can have frequent visits from their relatives in the US. Immigrants from across the oceans have a harder time than Mexican immigrants, yet all we hear about are the constant complaints of Mexican illegals.
born May 28, 1971 in Miami, FL (Meets the Jus Soli Requirement)
Parents were
Mario Rubio born in Cuba, naturalized Nov. 5, 1975.
Oria Garcia born in Cuba, naturalized Nov. 5, 1975.
Parents were NOT US Citizens at the time of his birth (Does NOT meet the Jus Sanguinis Requirement)
Marco Rubio is NOT a NATURAL BORN CITIZEN.
Marco's status is the same as that of Barry Soetoro, aka Barack Hussein Obama, who is NOT a Natural Born Citizen.
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