Marco Rubio tried to fend off GOP presidential rivals’ attacks on his past support for comprehensive immigration reform Sunday by insisting he would not advocate his own comprehensive immigration reform bill if elected.
“That’s not how we’re going to do it when I’m president,” Rubio said when asked by “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd why he won’t simply repudiate his 2013 support for the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill. “That’s not going to be the law that we’re going to pass.”
The Florida senator said it is now clear “you are not going to be able to do anything” on immigration until you bring illegal immigration under control to the satisfaction of voters.
Todd asked Rubio if he regreted cosponoring the Senate bill, which many conservatives regard as providing amnesty to undocumented immigrants.
“I tried to fix a problem. This is a real problem,” Rubio responded. “And where are we today? We’re worse off today than we were five years ago. We have more illegal immigrants here. We have two illegal executive orders on amnesty.”
The “key that unlocks” real immigration reform will be border control, he said.
The interview aired one day before the Iowa caucuses.
Earlier on the program, Rubio’s competitor, Texas senator Ted Cruz, argued that a vote for Rubio “is a vote for amnesty,” based on Rubio’s support for the Gang of Eight bill.
