As Senator Marco Rubio apparently closes in on a decision about whether he should join the presidential race in 2016, he has declared that he would not be against the idea of preventing undocumented immigrants from ever becoming full US citizens.
Rubio told the New York Times that he would think about barring illegal immigrants from gaining US citizenship to try to appease the members of Congress who are steadfastly opposed to enacting any form of immigration reform legislation that would give such people a path to becoming citizens. “We might prohibit people who came here illegally and got green cards under this process from ever becoming citizens,” he says. “And if that’s what we have to do to get this thing passed, I would be open to it.” Rubio did admit, however, that in his opinion this would not be the right move to make.
Rubio’s remarks were made in the same week that he dropped very public hints that he is close to a decision on whether to join the 2016 presidential race. If he does, he will be facing a tough opponent in former Florida governor Jeb Bush, whose brother and father have both been president.
Rubio has a long history when it comes to immigration reform, having voiced opposition to Obama’s decision to use executive action recently. He was also one of the Gang of Eight behind the legislation passed by the Senate in 2013, only to see it come to a complete standstill in the House of Representatives.