Weekly Standard puts Marco Rubio on the hot seat to find out why his immigration position has ‘evolved’

The Weekly Standard points out the past positions of Rubio on immigration back in 2009/2010, and asks him why his policies have changed since then. Here are the first two question:

Q: Three or four years ago, when you were running for Senate, we talked about this issue, and you seemed opposed to any bill that would legalize the status of illegal immigrants. Do you agree that your thinking on this issue has changed? And if so, when and why did it shift?

RUBIO: Well, first of all, I think my position has consistently been a couple things. Number one that we’re not going to create a special pathway to citizenship that disadvantages people that are doing it the right way or that encourages people to come here illegally in the future.

And the second thing that I’ve made very clear is that we’re not going to round up 11 million people. We’re not going to grant a blanket amnesty to 11 million people. And the solution lies somewhere in between those two.

In the past I really haven’t really had a specific response to address that. And obviously I spent time learning about this issue and talking to others. If you look at what we propose now in these principles, there’s been a lot of noise made about amnesty and things like that. But the reality of it is the only thing these folks are earning is the chance to apply for a green card just like everybody else does. They’re not getting anything different than anybody else would get…

The only thing they’re going to get is the chance to apply for a green card, just like they would if they went back to their nation of birth and waited 10 years. So, we’re not creating a special visa for them.

Q: In 2009, in one interview you said that ‘nothing will make it harder to enforce the existing laws if you reward the people who broke them,’ and ‘I’ll never support an effort to grant blanket legalization/amnesty to folks who’ve entered illegally and stayed here.’ So you think that your position isn’t inconsistent with your past remarks at all?

RUBIO: No, again, the legalization that they’re getting is a temporary work permit that in no way disadvantages the people who are trying to come here permanently the right way. The people trying to come here permanently the right way are applying for a green card, and there isn’t a single person—none of these people who have illegally entered the country would get a green card before someone who is doing it legally before them would get one.

Go read the rest of the interview here. There are at least 8 more questions.


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