Sen. Rubio Accelerates Push for Amnesty

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) appeared on most of the Sunday morning talk shows to begin building his case to grant an amnesty to the nation’s 11-18 million illegal aliens. Rubio’s said individuals that are in the country illegally will be allowed to apply for legal status and work permits if they meet certain requirements, and they’ll be allowed to apply for citizenship once a few enforcement provisions kick in.Rubio tried to defend his plan by saying it’s not an amnesty.”That is not amnesty…Amnesty is the forgiveness of something,” Sen. Rubio told Fox News.”I think it’s important to understand it does not give anything,” he told ABC’s “This Week”. “It allows people access to the legal immigration system. Number two, some people won’t qualify. They haven’t been here long enough; they’ve committed very serious crimes. They won’t be able to stay. Number three is all people will get an opportunity to apply for things, to apply for a legal status, which isn’t awarded on day one. “And after some period of time, over 10 years that’s elapsed, the only thing you will get – assuming that the border is secure, that e-verify is in place, that an entry exit system is in place for tracking visas, then the only thing you get is the chance to apply for a green card, like everybody else does.”Calling out Sen. Rubio’s plan, Sen Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) also appeared on ABC’s “This Week” and said the plan is an amnesty because it rewards individuals that come to the United States illegally with the ability to stay. After Sen. Rubio’s many appearances, Sen. Sessions issued a press release also characterizing the plan as an amnesty.”When the Gang of Eight was first formed a publicly stated principle was the enforcement would come first–before legalization,” Sen. Sessions said. “Today, on the Sunday shows, Gang of Eight members admitted that they abandoned this principle and that, in fact, legalization–or amnesty–would come first. This proposal offers immediate legalization with unfulfilled promises of enforcement in the future.”The Gang of Eight’s plan would grant amnesty to many of the 11-18 million illegal aliens by allowing them to continue to live and work in the U.S. The only step that supposedly hinges on increased enforcement is a path to citizenship, but by allowing millions of illegal aliens to keep their present jobs or grant access to new ones would put them in direct competition with 20 million Americans who can’t find full-time work.”Another area of great concern in this proposal is the impact it will have on low-income Americans and those individuals and communities suffering from chronic underemployment… Including those illegal immigrants that are legalized, this bill, over ten years, will result in at least 30 million new foreign workers–more than the entire population of Texas,” Sen. Sessions said.