Immigration Reform Update: Senator Rubio Urges Fellow Republicans to Act

Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican and co-author of the immigration reform bill that the Senate passed in June, recently warned fellow Republicans in the House of the potential consequences of not acting on the CIR bill.

Senator Rubio argued that if the Congress does not act on Comprehensive Immigration Reform then President Obama will use an executive order to legalize the undocumented.  The President’s has already used an executive order to grant deferred action to the DREAMers and legalization by executive order would build on that precedent.  An executive order would legalize 11 million undocumented without including any of the provisions that Republicans believe should go with immigration reform, such as border security advances and E-Verify.

“I believe that this president will be tempted, if nothing happens in Congress, he will be tempted to issue an executive order like he did for the DREAM Act kids a year ago, where he basically legalizes 11 million people by the sign of a pen.  Now, we won’t get an E-Verify, we won’t get any border security.  But he’ll legalize them,” Rubio said  on Tuesday.

“Unless we’re going to try to round up and deport 11 million people — something that not even the most vociferous opponent of the [Senate] bill proposed — then we are going to have to at some point address this issue,” Rubio said. “We can’t leave, in my mind, the way it is.  Because I think a year from now we could find ourselves with all 11 million people here legally under an executive order from the president, but no E-Verify, no more border security, no more border agents, none of the other reforms that we desperately need,” he continued.

To read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/marco-rubio-immigration-executive-order-95487.html#ixzz2bxU4M895

What do you think of Senator Rubio’s warning?  Let us know in the comments below.

Written by Victoria Karins

Victoria Jaensch Karins graduated from the University of South Florida in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology. She attended law school at St. Thomas University in Miami and received her JD in 1994. She is admitted to the Florida Bar and has practiced immigration law since 1995. Her areas of practice focus on 1) business executives, managers, investors, professionals and skilled workers; 2) family-based immigration, and fiancé visas and 3) citizenship and naturalization. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Central Florida Chapter, having served as a Board Member, Seminar Coordinator and as the Vice Chair for the Tampa Region. Her pro bono activities have focused on abused immigrant women and children.