Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), one of a group of senators crafting a bipartisan immigration reform bill, expressed concern with the immigration proposals put forward by President Obama in Las Vegas Tuesday. In a statement, Rubio said that Obama should accept the idea of a trigger, one of the principles of the legislation being crafted in the Senate, that would prevent undocumented immigrants from beginning the process of applying for citizenship until a series of border security measures go into effect.
“I am concerned by the President’s unwillingness to accept significant enforcement triggers before current undocumented immigrants can apply for a green card. Without such triggers in place, enforcement systems will never be implemented and we will be back in just a few years dealing with millions of new undocumented people in our country. Furthermore, the President ignored the need for a modernized guest worker program that will ensure those who want to immigrate legally to meet our economy’s needs can do so in the future. Finally, the President’s speech left the impression that he believes reforming immigration quickly is more important than reforming immigration right. A reform of our immigration laws is a consequential undertaking that deserves to be subjected to scrutiny and input from all involved. I was encouraged by the President’s explicit statement that people with temporary legal status won’t be eligible for ObamaCare. If in fact they were, the potential cost of reform would blow open another big, gaping hole in our federal budget and make the bill untenable.”
