Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Republican presidential candidate Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said, “I don’t think you’ll round up and deport 12 million people. It’s clear now more than ever that we won’t be able to do anything on people here illegally until we first prove to people that illegal immigration is under control and America is safe.”
Partial transcript as follows:
TODD: Let me ask you on the 11 million, are you still for finding a way for them to legally stay in the United States?
RUBIO: If you’re a criminal alien, no, you can’t stay. If you’re someone that hasn’t been here for a very long time you can’t stay.
TODD: Define “Criminal alien.”
RUBIO: A felon.
TODD: So not —
RUBIO: Under immigration law. I’ve said that before, that’s been — a felon, someone who’s committed a crime, a non-immigration related — obviously — and that’s what I’ve talked about in the past. So I don’t think you’ll round up port 12 million people. It’s clear now more than ever that we won’t be able to do anything on people here illegally until we first prove to people that illegal immigration is under control and America is safe. And ISIS poses a very unique threat, unlike anything we have faced in the past.
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