Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on Sunday cast doubt on a White House suggestion that President Trump is not considering allowing some illegal immigrants to stay in the country.
Prior to addressing lawmakers on Tuesday evening, Trump had told TV reporters he would support allowing illegal immigrants who have not committed additional crimes to remain in the U.S., but his staff later deemed that comment part of a “misdirection play.”
“I don’t think it’s a misdirection play. I think the president realizes that we have an immigration problem in America and we need to fix it,” Rubio told CNN host Jake Tapper. “But I also think the president realizes — and it’s been my advice to him and anybody who will listen — that the best way to do this is in a series of measures, and that we should take our time and do this thing right.”
Rubio, part of the 2013 “Gang of Eight” in Congress that crafted a bipartisan immigration reform proposal, said his sense is that Trump does have a “desire and interest” to fix this issue, as he has said.
Trump has taken multiple actions with respect to immigration laws since entering the Oval Office seven weeks ago. He ordered enforcement laws be wholly upheld and a wall on the southern border be completed. Congress is currently allocating the funds for the U.S.-Mexico wall project.
