Sen. Marco Rubio is defending his participation in drafting the “Gang of Eight” Senate amnesty bill, which offered illegal immigrants a path to American citizenship by allowing them to apply for a green card.
In an interview with Sean Hannity last night, Rubio explained that he was “trying to make a difference” by participating in the 2013 process with liberal Democratic Senators like Chuck Schumer to create the “most conservative bill possible” in a Democratic led Senate.
“What we underestimated is how much people distrust the federal government,” he said, pointing out that Americans demanded border security first before addressing the problem of illegal immigrants living in the country.
When Hannity pointed out that conservatives still had doubts about Rubio’s position on immigration, he freely admitted that he still supported the idea of giving green cards to some illegal immigrants.
“Now the majority position in our party is it should stop at just a work permit … I personally am open to allowing people to apply for a green card,” he said, clarifying that it would only apply to illegal immigrants who lived in the country for 10 years, passed background checks, paid back taxes, paid a fine, and learned English.
“That is not a majority position in my party,” he admitted.
Rubio said that any future of amnesty for illegal immigrants would require proof from the federal government to the American people that it was possible to secure the Southern border.
“You can’t say ‘trust us, we’re going to to it’ it has to happen,” he said. “They have to see it, and when that’s happened, I think that’s the key that unlocks the door to the other reforms that are needed.”