Florida’s junior senator, Marco Rubio, has been very vocal in recent weeks on the topic of immigration reform.
In a letter to President Barack Obama, Rubio said the president’s newly proposed executive actions on immigration would “close the door to any chance of making progress on immigration reform for the foreseeable future.”
Rubio is correct in saying the prospects for immigration reform are grim, but blaming that on Obama is simply ludicrous.
Obama’s actions on immigration to date can be classified as moderate. The president has heavily stepped up both border security and deportation efforts during his administration.
The president’s new proposal, an expansion of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, would mostly provide protections to undocumented immigrants who are making positive contributions to American society. DACA primarily protects individuals who have no criminal records and have either enrolled in college or served in the armed forces.
Obama’s proposal is a well-reasoned response to the complete failure of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives to produce any sort of coherent or substantive reform bill.
In the House Republican caucus, ideas on immigration policy are inspired by such luminaries as Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. Among other ignorant statements, King once said that for every undocumented immigrant who becomes a high school valedictorian, there are 100 with “calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”
Despite King’s fearmongering, the reality is that the overwhelming majority of undocumented immigrants have much more benevolent motivations.
These immigrants cross the border not to commit crimes or to sabotage the U.S. economy, but to build better lives for themselves and their families. Many of these individuals come to this country fleeing the murderous wrath of drug cartels, groups that the American-led “war on drugs” has helped to expand.
Even Speaker of the House John Boehner has acknowledged that Tea Party-aligned Republicans are the ones holding up the reform process. Asked about the Tea Party stance on immigration reform, Boehner said this: “We get elected to make choices. We get elected to solve problems and it’s remarkable to me how many of my colleagues just don’t want to.”
Rubio deserves credit for his willingness to support the Senate’s immigration reform bill. Support from Senate Republicans is an important step toward resolution of this issue, which has serious implications for the social and economic well-being of the United States.
But if Rubio is truly interested in enacting comprehensive immigration reform, simply criticizing the president for proposing modest unilateral action is not acceptable.
Rubio must also call out his fellow Republicans for their refusal to budge an inch from their hardline stance.
Until he does, Rubio will appear to be more of a political opportunist than someone truly dedicated to immigration reform.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 8/28/2014 under the headline "Rubio’s comments on immigration miss the mark"]
