President Barack Obama’s new mandate that illegal immigrants under the age of 30 will get amnesty has created a firestorm of criticism from Republicans in Congress.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is now reconsidering his Dream Act proposal, which would have done many of the same things the president did unilaterally on Friday when the president announced the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would step up its law enforcement efforts on illegal immigrants.
Rubio’s bill would have granted temporary legal status to immigrants and the relief from the threat of being deported.
“As you know, Sen. Rubio was working hard to find a permanent solution to this issue,” said Rubio Spokesman Alex Conant, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “… meeting with Republican senators and Dream kid activists as recently as last week, and we were not briefed—let alone consulted—before the administration made his announcement. I expect [Rubio] will keep working the issue. But we need to re-evaluate our legislative strategy.”
Rubio, the often-noted son of Cuban immigrants, had planned on soon introducing his own version of the Dream Act that would have no longer deported young, undocumented immigrants.
Republicans, who are upset with the president for bypassing Congress, agreed that Rubio’s chances of getting the bill passed soon are bleak because the political waters surrounding amnesty are now very murky.
There are Democrats who have applauded Rubio’s plan, but say it doesn’t go far enough to help pave the path to citizenship.
