ImmigrationRubio will vote against immigration bill unless border security provisions are strengthened

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) withdraws support for immigration bill if security not tightened // Source: atmajizia.com

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) is a member of the bipartisan Gang of Eight group which drafted a comprehensive immigration reform bill. The bill has cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee and will come to the Senate floor next week.

Rubio, however, says he would vote against the bill he helped draft unless the border security provisions in the bill are strengthened. Rubio told conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt that more had to be done to “strengthen the border security parts of this bill so that they’re stronger.”

When Hewitt asked Rubio whether he would support the bill if no changes were made to it to strengthen border security, Rubio said he would not:“Well, I think if those amendments don’t pass, then I think we’ve got a bill that isn’t going to become law, and I think we’re wasting our time. So the answer is no.”

The Hill notes that Rubio has been criticized by some Republicans for his participation in writing the bill, and that his support for the bill is essential to persuade more Republicans to vote for it.

Senators Charles Schumer (D-New York) and John McCain (R-Arizona) said last week that they hope to get seventy Senators to vote for the bill. Rubio said earlier this week that his numbers show that the bill does not have even sixty votes at this point.

In the meantime, a bipartisan immigration reform proposal is being drafted in the House, but its fate may not be good as many GOP lawmakers have expressed their opposition to it.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia) said the solution may be to consider immigration reform on a piecemeal basis. This may portend trouble for the Senate bill, assuming it passes the Senate, because House members may agree with Goodlatte that the piecemeal approach to immigration reform would be better.