The Daily Caller reports that Marco Rubio has a history of opposing enforcement of immigration laws. As Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Rubio blocked efforts to deal with illegal immigration at the state or local Miami level.
According to the Daily Caller, the record shows that Rubio used his power as Speaker to block legislation to tighten enforcement even after such legislation had sailed through committee. He even opposed, and thwarted, bipartisan legislation to deport 5,000 illegal immigrant prisoners in Florida jails.
Rubio’s Florida record helps us understand his indifferent attitude towards enforcement in connection with the Schumer-Rubio amnesty bill. As we have noted, Rubio’s position on enforcement is, in essence: maybe there are problems with what I have proposed, but others can fix them.
I think it’s pretty clear that Rubio isn’t backing amnesty and a path to citizenship reluctantly, as the only way we can attain better enforcement. Instead, amnesty and a path to citizenship are his objectives, with the promise of better enforcement just along for the ride.
The hard-line Rubio took on immigration when he ran for the Senate is an outlier in Rubio’s history on the subject. That’s a polite way of saying that this position was, in all likelihood, fraudulent — a cynical attempt to appeal to conservatives in his long-shot race against Charlie Crist.
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