DREAM Act Portal Forum - Marco Rubio: I’d back border security bill

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/0...ill-95013.html

Quote:

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday he would back a House immigration plan that only dealt with border security, but that that alone would not fix the U.S. immigration system.

Appearing on Sean Hannity’s radio show, Rubio (R-Fla.) was asked if he would support a House bill that was “border security first” if they didn’t take up any other aspect of immigration.

“Well yeah, but at the end of the day border security is an obligation of the federal government no matter what your illegal immigration problem may be,” Rubio said. “Even if you didn’t have a single illegal immigrant you’d still have to have effective border security because it goes down to your sovereignty. So I have no problem with doing border security. That alone won’t solve our immigration problem, however.”

Rubio responded that it is important for border security to take place before anyone in the country illegally is given permanent status.

“In the interim, while you’re doing the border security, you have to account for the people who are here illegally, and that’s why the bill gave them a temporary status,” Rubio said. “Now the argument is, is it really temporary because once you give something you can’t take it back. But again, I would just argue to you that the only difference between what they have now and what they would have under the bill is at least we’d know who they are and they’d have to be paying taxes.”

Rubio said he thought anything that was done on illegal immigration should be linked to border security conditions being met, and that was what he hoped the House would focus on.