Sen. Marco Rubio touts his version of DREAM Act as humanitarian relief
Quote:
WASHINGTON - Most Democrats are already on board with letting young people who came to this country illegally stay in the United States, if they’re going to college or into the military, and if they meet other strict requirements.<br />
So to sell the skeptics in his own party, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, began rebranding his sales pitch this week, casting his version of the idea less as immigration reform than as humanitarian relief for a specific group of young people who face deportation.
He equated their cases to those of Cuban refugees who are allowed to come to the United States and stay, because American leaders have decided the political circumstances in Cuba merit an exception to immigration laws. They have a significant humanitarian claim, Rubio said.
"This is not really immigration reform," he told a group of Iowa business leaders Thursday at a luncheon in Washington, D.C. "This is not a system that is going to exist in the future. This is for a very specific case of people who have come here, through no fault of their own."
If he wants to see his version of such a plan succeed, he has to persuade Republican colleagues who are wary of immigration reform. There are concerns in his own party that more work needs to be done on enforcement before addressing other aspects of immigration, Rubio acknowledged.
"But I would just say that this is really not an immigration mission, it’s a humanitarian mission," he said.
Rubio has said repeatedly that he wants to cast the GOP as the party of legal immigration, even as he has warned other Republicans that their rhetoric has harmed the party’s efforts to reach out to Latino voters. Democrats, he said, would love to use immigration as a wedge issue. The White House already has asked some immigration activists not to work with him, Rubio said.
Rubio, who’s considered a potential vice presidential running mate for Mitt Romney, began talking about his immigration plan this spring after he and Republicans such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush worried that the polarizing rhetoric during the presidential primaries would keep Latino voters from considering a GOP candidate in November.
The Florida senator was addressing the group at the request of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. Grassley introduced Rubio as the son of recent immigrants from Cuba - someone who because of his background might "understand the promise of America" better than those whose immigrant experience is several generations removed.
Rubio’s wide-ranging speech didn’t address immigration directly - he talked mostly about tax policy and creating a robust business climate, along with the need for technical training schools, and a foreign policy that assumes a large international role for the U.S.
He didn’t bring up immigration in detail until those attending the event asked him questions about the topic after his speech. And even then, although he was critical of the country’s existing immigration system, Rubio had to be pressed to talk about his own alternative to the DREAM Act.
The DREAM Act - supported by many Democrats and President Barack Obama and stalled in Congress - allows young people who came to the U.S. illegally with their parents as children to stay in this country. Rubio’s proposal would not provide a direct path to citizenship for those young people, but they would be allowed to stay in the country under his plan. They would still have to apply for residency and citizenship, however.
Rubio also suggested that he’s not interested in tackling comprehensive immigration reform. That allows bad ideas in with the good, he said. Instead, Rubio said, Congress needs to address the DREAM Act kids and other specific immigration problems, such as creating a guest-worker program and a way for employers to verify the immigration status of potential hires.
Rubio was highly critical of specific provisions of the existing DREAM Act. The direct path to citizenship allows young people to become U.S. citizens and then sponsor family members for citizenship. Rubio said he’s concerned some of those the young people could sponsor would be their parents - the very people who brought their children to the U.S. illegally. That could open the door to as many as 3 million new immigrants, Rubio said.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_...tarian_relief/
I want to see the actual bill :confused:
