Individual Bills Best Way to Do Immigration

CHRIS WALLACE, FNC: President Obama is pushing a new agenda for the rest of the year and one of the key items is he wants to renew his push for immigration reform, which is stalled in the House.

Congressman Raul Labrador, who at point was supporting immigration reform now says this, "It would be crazy for the House Republican leadership to enter into negotiations with him, Obama, on immigration because his goal now is to destroy the Republican Party."

Do you agree with Congressman Labrador?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Well, I'll make two points in that regard. Number one, immigration reform is something the country needs. I don't think anyone would disagree that we have a broken legal immigration system. We do not have mechanisms in place to effectively enforce our immigration laws. These issues have to be addressed. What Congressman Labrador is addressing is something that I hear from opponents of our efforts all the time, and I think that's a valid point, and that is this: you have a government and a White House that has consistently decided to ignore the law and how to apply it. Look at the health care law. The law is on the books, they decide which parts of it to apply and which parts not to apply. They issue their own waivers without any congressional oversight.

And what they say is, you're going to pass an immigration law that has both some legalization aspects and some enforcement. What's not to say that this White House won't come back and cancel the enforcement aspects of it?

And that's what he means by lack of trust, and quite frankly, it's difficult to find a good answer to that. I think they make a very legitimate point.

WALLACE: But do you agree --

RUBIO: But certainly, the president has undermined this effort. Absolutely. The president has undermined these efforts.

(CROSSTALK)

RUBIO: -- over the last three weeks.

WALLACE: But do you agree it would be crazy to deal with them and to press forward with immigration reform because of that lack of trust?

RUBIO: Well, I don't think that's what he was saying. I think what he was saying and it's my position as well, is that the House deserves the time and space to craft their own solution.

Now, this notion that they're going to get in a room and negotiate a deal with the president on immigration is much more difficult to do for two reasons. Number one, because of the way that president has behaved towards his opponents over the last three weeks, as well as the White House and the things that they've said and done. And number two, because of what I outlined to you.

So, I certainly think that immigration reform is a lot harder to achieve today than it was just three weeks ago because of what's happened here. Again, I think the House deserved the time and space to have their own ideas about how they want to move forward on this. Let's see what they can come up with. It could very well be much better than what the Senate has done so far.

WALLACE: Well, let me ask you about the Senate plan. You were one of the architects to the plan that passed that Senate. But there has been speculation that because of political backlash against the plan, that perhaps you have backed away from it.

So, let me ask you directly: as part of a comprehensive plan that does include tougher enforcement measures, do you still support an earned path to citizenship?

RUBIO: Well, again, number one, the answer is yes, depending on the way that it's outlined in a comprehensive package. I still continue to believe, as I always have, that the best way to address immigration reform is in individual bills that build on each other sequentially. I've always believed that.

Now, the Senate wanted a different direction. I wanted to influence what the Senate came up with. I felt it was important for the Senate to take the first step in this debate.

We have House colleagues. They have their own ideas about how to pursue this. And, ultimately, you know, Chris, we have been lectured now for the last three weeks about being realistic. We've been told that you're not going to get rid of Obamacare. You're not going to repeal it. You're not going to defund it, because Barack Obama is in the White House. You have to be realistic. We've been lectured about that.

Well, I think they need to be realistic about immigration reform.

The fact of the matter is, the House and many of its members have very strong opinions on what a reform effort should look like. And without them onboard, there won't be reform.

So, I think many Democrats are going to have to make the decision about immigration. Do they want it as a political talking point or are they looking for a result? And if they're looking for a result, they're going to have to show a little bit more flexibility on some of the key points, like the one you've outlined.

WALLACE: Senator, some conservatives, as you well know, call your plan -- even though it takes 13 years to become a citizen and you have to go through a lot of steps to do so -- still call your plan amnesty. And the fact is, in these early presidential horse race polls, you have taken a hit. I want to put up one of them.

In April, you led the Quinnipiac poll with 19 percent, followed by Ryan, Rand Paul, and Christie. But this month, Paul leads, followed by Christie, and you're back in third place.

Has your support for comprehensive immigration reform hurt you with conservatives?

RUBIO: Again, obviously, you're citing a poll that shows that that might be the case. But that's not why I did it. So, clearly, if someone is only looking at everything through a lens of what the future could hold politically, they probably would never have undertaken this issue. I knew that going in.

I remain convince this is an important issue for our country to confront and to solve. I felt like I was in a position to try to make a positive difference. Any time you pass any law or any bill, it's not going to be perfect. It's going to have parts of it you agree with strongly. It's going to have parts of it you perhaps wish were different, as is the case with this bill. But, ultimately, I continue to believe it's an important issue for our nation to confront, because the alternative is to leave things the way they are right now and I would continue to argue that the way things are right now is a de facto amnesty.

Now, is there a way to improve upon what the Senate did? Probably. I'm sure there is. And that's why I hope the House will work on here and they deserve the time and space to be able to do that.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/10/21/rubio_the_president_has_undermined_immigration_reform_efforts.html
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