“(reference please)”
In 2008, Rubio blocked a number of patriotic immigration bills in the Florida legislature. The Miami Herald reported:
“Florida lawmakers looking to pass bills targeted at curbing illegal immigration faced one major hurdle this session—convincing South Florida legislators, who hold key leadership positions in the House and Senate, to support their cause. Without the backing of House Speaker Marco Rubio, the first Cuban-American to hold the position, the bills failed to get any major play in their committees. Six weeks into the session, a three-hour workshop was held on the six House bills, but even that failed to produce its desired intent of combining the bills into one larger committee bill.
“’Speaker Rubio outlined the priorities of the session and this didn’t fall under that list,’ said [Rep. David] Rivera, one of Rubio’s lieutenants.”
When Arizona enacted SB 1070, Rubio wrote:
“Arizona’s policy shows the difficulty and limitations of states trying to act piecemeal to solve what is a serious federal problem… I think aspects of the law, especially that dealing with ‘reasonable suspicion,’ are going to put our law enforcement officers in an incredibly difficult position. It could also unreasonably single out people who are here legally, including many American citizens.”
Rubio eventually flip-flopped—after the conservative grassroots embraced Arizona. But he still made sure to qualify that we need “a legal immigration system that works” (a.k.a. more legal immigration) and that we must “Understand that what Arizona is facing is different from anything Florida has ever faced... Frankly, very few states in the country can imagine what that’s like.” (i.e. no other state should consider enacting a similar bill.
OK. Point well taken. That's not good. McLame had the same problem - not wanting to close the doors before revamping immigration.
Thanks for the info!!!!