Senator Marco Rubio is starting to display signs of anxiety about being able to secure the 60 votes needed to pass the immigration reform bill from the bipartisan Gang of Eight of which he is a member. The main author of the bill, Rubio has been attempting to gain support from conservatives all year and needs to make certain that all parties are content with any new immigration laws that are put in place, especially given his likelihood of being a presidential candidate in the next US election.
Rubio has been making a number of appearances on news channels and talk shows in a bid to try and win more support for the immigration reform bill. “If we can pass a measure that ensures that we will never again have another wave of illegal immigration, I believe we will have immigration reform,” Rubio says. “And if we do not pass that, if that does not happen, I believe there will not be immigration reform. It’s as simple as that.”
Despite Rubio’s campaigning, however, many Republicans apparently feel that there are “serious flaws” in the bill, USA Today reports. A source for the newspaper claims that four Senators wrote a letter to their colleagues earlier this week claiming that the 1,000-page bill fails to ensure border security and merely makes the US immigration system less accountable and more complicated.
While Rubio has conceded that the bill may need some alterations, he is hoping that the bill will be moved forward by the Democrats and that his fellow Republicans will eventually jump on board.