Posted on 07/12/2014 1:41:41 PM PDT by SoConPubbie
A trio of potential Republican presidential candidates in the Senate is rebuffing President Obama over the influx of children from Central America across the southern border.
But even as Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Marco Rubio of Florida blame Obama, there are differences among their critiques.
Cruz took perhaps the boldest swipes at the president and his request for $3.7 billion in emergency funding to address the issue. Cruz was also the only one of the group to speak on the floor this week.
Paul remained mostly quiet, having published an op-ed during the Independence Day holiday that criticized the country's immigration policy broadly but did not directly address the minors streaming across the border. He's also withholding comment on the president's funding request until there is written legislation, according to spokesman Sergio Gor.
Rubio, who finds himself in perhaps the most awkward position because he supported the Senate's immigration bill last year, defended his position while jabbing at Obama.
Here's a look at the where the senators stand on the issue:
Cruz: "Of the president's own making."
Cruz took the president on directly, blaming him for the influx of children, which he said could top 90,000 by the end of the year.
"This is a humanitarian disaster, but it is a disaster of the president's own making," Cruz said Wednesday. "It is a disaster that is a direct consequence of President Obama's lawlessness."
He dismissed the president's $3.7 billion request and said it would not solve the problem. He instead suggested that "boots on the ground" would stem the tide of children crossing the border.
"This is an HHS social-services bill," Cruz said of the president's supplemental request.
Cruz also compared the request to the $800 billion economic stimulus bill in 2009, saying it was sold to the public as a jobs bill but that the so-called shovel-ready jobs did not materialize as promised. In this case, the administration claims the funding request is for border security, yet much of the money goes to the Health and Human Services Department, Cruz argued.
Paul: "Beacon to all of Central America."
Echoing the language he used in an op-ed last week on Breitbart.com, Paul told reporters in Kentucky—without getting specific—that he backs some forms of forgiveness but that he thinks the border should be secure first.
"Now that's become a beacon to all of Central America because we didn't secure the border," he said, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. "So if you don't secure the border and you offer these things of reform and forgiveness, many of which I'm for, but if you don't secure the border, then you get this humanitarian crisis and the whole world thinks they can come and no one's stopping them."
Rubio: "Take care of them as ... humanely as possible … but they do need to be returned."
Rubio defended his vote on the immigration bill by pointing out that neither the legislation nor current law allows the children to stay in the country. Like Cruz, he criticized the administration's funding request and pointed out that the lion's share of it goes toward HHS, with too little going to secure the border.
"We need to apply the law, we need to take care of them as … humanely as possible while they are here but they do need to be returned and reunited with their families in their home country, because that's the law of the country," Rubio said in an interview with Hot Air. "If you don't enforce the law you are creating an incentive for people trying to come here."
You and I are in agreement.
If I recall correctly, GW was trying desperately to give unrestricted access to our highways by Mexican trucks, before he left office. I was never a GW fan and took heat over the years for pointing out he was not a conservative.
“....Steve King is working with a cohort in the Senate to pass a bill to help Perry address the problem...”
right....and by the time it’s even passed...if it even makes it to the floor...these characters will have been already been “distributed” throughout the US.
Rand Paul loves amnesty so no thanks.
Cruz answered well and I trust him to keep his word.
Rubio answered ok but I don’t trust him. I can see him changing his mind down the line, going back on his word and making a deal to let them all stay, give them welfare benefits plus bring in more. So no thanks.
So, you have no faith that GOP frauds will build a fence, but you do think they will deport?
Deportation is nothing more than a fancy even in the best of times. It is not a wall, it is not an obstacle, it is not anything other than an idea.
Get a fence, and at least you have a double-tiered barrier with high tech no man's land in between.
If I want to protect my property being torn up by four-wheelers, do I want gates and a fence, or do I want a notice in the paper not to four-wheel on my property?
Nope, I don't think they will do either. What did I say that would make you think I believed such a thing.
Our elected officials of both parties have been openly participating in the fundamental transformation of our country.
A fence is a good thing but it does nothing to solve the problem because they come around, over and under it now without consequence.
What is the result of placing border guards near the border where illegals merely surrender to the authority and demand their legal rights, where they will be released on their own recognizance never to be seen again.
The cultural destruction of our nation can not be the consequence of stupid politicians, it is a well executed plan.
“So, you have no faith that GOP frauds will build a fence, but you do think they will deport? “
No, I have zero faith in the GOPe and I know that they won’t deport illegal aliens. I consider them to be every bit the enemy of the American people as the Obama Democrats, whom they collude with. They push Amnesty at every opportunity and will not stop.
“Deportation is nothing more than a fancy even in the best of times. “
President Eisenhower. General Swing. Operation Wetback.
“Get a fence, and at least you have a double-tiered barrier with high tech no man’s land in between. “
I’m all for building a fence. But it’s not a cure and it’s not the first importance. It will do nothing about the approx 30 million illegals already here.
I do not want people to be fooled by “build the Fence first and then we’ll talk”, something that GOP sockpuppet Hannity endlessly repeats. That is a GOPe talking point designed to fool voters into accepting two-stage Amnesty.
A border fence removes no illegals from America. California is essentially an occupied country and if illegals are not removed that cancer will spread. If you think that California’s collapse doesn’t affect the rest of the country you are seriously mistaken. Nothing short of deporting millions of illegals will change that.
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