http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/?hp= Rubio signals need to do immigration reform in stages
By JON PRIOR |
8/3/14 9:39 AM EDT
Sen. Marco Rubio on Sunday said that the best chance Congress has of reaching a deal on immigration reform may be through solving long-term flaws in the system separately from the current crisis on the border.
"Given everything that's going on now, especially, the only way we're ever going to make progress on this issue is to first deal with illegal immigration, secure the border, win people's confidence that in reality this problem is under control," Rubio said in an interview aired on "Fox News Sunday."
The Florida Republican and potential 2016 presidential candidate took some criticism from conservatives after a sweeping immigration reform proposal he co-authored passed the Senate last summer. Rubio resisted when pressed Sunday on whether he was now advocating for Congress to tackle the problem in stages rather than through comprehensive reform.
He said there was still a need to secure the border and modernize the immigration system, and he criticized a possible executive order from President Barack Obama that could possibly allow millions of illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. as fueling the problem.
"We're not debating what to do. We're debating how to do it," Rubio said. "We will never have the votes necessary to pass one bill with all those things. It just won't happen. So our choices are we can continue to beat our heads against the wall and try a process for which we will never have the support or we can try another way that we could perhaps make progress on."
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Perry: Unaccompanied minors 'side issue' in border dispute
By ERIC BRADNER |
8/3/14 9:31 AM EDT
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the unaccompanied children who have streamed across the U.S.-Mexico border in increasing numbers are a “side issue” compared to the illegal immigrants who have committed crimes.
He said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that “what we are substantially more concerned about in the state of Texas, and I will suggest to you, across this country, are the 80 percent plus individuals who don’t get talked about enough who are coming into the United States illegally and committing substantial crimes.”
He told host Candy Crowley that since September of 2008, 203,000 illegal immigrants have been booked into Texas county jails.
“And Candy, these individuals are responsible for over 3,000 homicides and almost 8,000 sexual assaults,” Perry said.
When Crowley pushed back on those numbers, Perry asked how many homicides and sexual assaults would be acceptable before action was necessary. “I wish the president would respect that desire of Texans and citizens of this country to secure the border,” he said.
He said there are “historic highs” of immigrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria entering the United States. Perry also said he is sending the Texas National Guard to the border for as long as necessary.
