{"id":3144,"date":"2015-11-03T13:36:47","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T19:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=3144"},"modified":"2016-01-18T10:47:03","modified_gmt":"2016-01-18T16:47:03","slug":"really-rubio-more-on-immigration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html","title":{"rendered":"Really, Rubio? (more on immigration)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

When I wrote my post the other day<\/a> suggesting that Rubio give a Big Policy Speech on immigration, and make some commitments to the GOP Base, I hadn\u2019t dug into the specifics of Rubio\u2019s backtracking from amnesty. \u00a0And I hadn\u2019t realized how weak Rubio\u2019s current position is.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an article from Breitbart<\/a>\u00a0(actually from April but with renewed notice on twitter), on an interview Rubio gave, in which he says that, assuming the \u201cDAPA\u201d amnesty (that is, the executive order granting work permits to illegal immigrants with children living in the U.S.) continues to be stalled by the courts, he would cancel it outright upon taking office, but he would continue the \u201cDACA\u201d amnesty (for individuals who arrived in the U.S. as minors) for a certain undefined length of time and\/or until a broader amnesty is passed (he\u2019s not clear on this), because it will have been long enough since the program was initiated that large numbers of young people would have their lives disrupted.<\/p>\n

But what stunned me was this: \u00a0the sole reason he gives for his new gradualist position on immigration is this: \u00a0it was politically unfeasible to achieve all his goals in one piece of legislation. \u00a0Here\u2019s what he said in the Univision interview being quoted:<\/p>\n

\n

I do think that if I wind up being president, it will be possible to achieve new immigration reform. It won\u2019t be possible for it to be comprehensive; that is, they are not going to be able to do everything in one massive bill. We already tried that a couple of years ago. We have seen that the political support isn\u2019t there, and I think we\u2019ve spent a lot of time on this process when we could have started moving forward through the three steps that I advocated. Unfortunately, a lot of time has been wasted on that. It has become an even more controversial issue; harder to move forward on that issue. But I still say that it\u2019s important to modernize our system, and that means improving the way we enforce it in the future, to modernize the immigration system so that it\u2019s not so costly and bureaucratic. And we have to deal with 12 million human beings who are already here. And nobody, nobody is advocating a plan to deport 12 million human beings. So that issue has to be dealt with, as well.<\/p>\n

Ramos: When you announced your candidacy, outside of the building where you announced it, there were a lot of Dreamers, protesting. And then there are some immigrant organizations that have criticized your candidacy. America\u2019s Voice says that you have anti-immigrant positions. I would like to ask you, you were in favor of an immigration reform bill in the Senate, and you voted for it. But today, would you vote in favor of a path to legalization for 11 million undocumented people?<\/p>\n

Rubio: Well, that can\u2019t be done today for the following reason. I don\u2019t think we can. I have been very clear. I, through that two-year experience, it\u2019s very clear to me. We\u2019re not going to have the votes or the necessary political support in Congress. Today, in some sectors of the American public, in order to move forward on this issue, unless we first prove to the American people that in the future there\u2019s not going to be another immigration crisis. If we do that, I think that undoubtedly the political support is going to exist to do legalization as you have said. It has to be a process similar to what we advocated in the legislation that I sponsored, and it\u2019s the law that says that, first, the things we\u2019re all familiar with must be present: a background check, pay a fine, begin to pay taxes, get a work permit, and after 10 years, they can apply for their residency. That would be the process, but we can\u2019t get to that point. Politically, the support and the votes in Congress aren\u2019t there until we prove to those members of Congress and the American people that immigration laws are going to be enforced.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So here\u2019s the key: \u00a0when asked, \u201cwould you vote for legalization?\u201d he doesn\u2019t say \u201cyes.\u201d \u00a0He doesn\u2019t say \u201cno.\u201d \u00a0He says, \u201cthat can\u2019t be done.\u201d \u00a0But he sure as heck seems to suggest that if, at any point, he thought he had the votes, he\u2019d do so. \u00a0Now, he\u2019s running for president, not re-election to the Senate, so the question is really two-fold: \u00a0would he sign legislation similar to the Gang of 8 bill (that is, in which enforcement is window-dressing, rather than substantive), if it made it\u2019s way through Congress? \u00a0And would he use political capital trying to move such a bill through Congress, cajoling reluctant Congressmen and Senators, offering goodies such as special funds for displaced workers or additional funds for social services in a given district as \u201cdemonstration projects\u201d?<\/p>\n

After all, Rubio does not reject anything except the politics and optics of his prior attempt. \u00a0He doesn\u2019t even try to pretend to claim that he\u2019s recognized the folly of his prior plan. \u00a0The only problem, he says, is that the American people that weren\u2019t ready for this.<\/p>\n

As a reminder: \u00a0the Gang of 8 bill provided immediate<\/em> legalization for all illegal immigrants except for hardened criminals. \u00a0The conditions set forth were really very minimal: \u00a0\u201cpaying taxes\u201d generally meant \u201cbegin to collect tax refunds\u201d, for instance. \u00a0 The statement that there\u2019d be a 10 year delay while enforcement mechanisms were put in place was fundamentally dishonest, given that there was, really, nothing at risk \u2014 the newly-legalized immigrants would have their work visas renewed, with no risk of cancellation, up until that point at which they were able to gain permanent residency. \u00a0The requirement to learn English was ill-defined, and there were hardship exemptions everywhere you looked. \u00a0I don\u2019t remember the particulars about the fines, but it seems to me that they weren\u2019t particularly burdensome, given that we\u2019re talking about low-wage earners here. \u00a0(Yeah, I read the bill in detail but I can\u2019t find the blog post in which I walked through these sections.)<\/p>\n

Rubio\u2019s new proposal \u2014 to get to the same endpoint via a series of bills \u2014 doesn\u2019t strike me as much of an improvement, if \u201cseries\u201d is meant to imply that they are all passed within a relatively short time frame. \u00a0If a bill to implement e-verify is passed, but no effort is made to implement it before the legalization bill is passed \u2014 and the latter is implemented immediately \u2014 we\u2019re not in any different a place than with the Go8 bill. \u00a0And Rubio\u2019s repetition of the 10-year delay seems to suggest that it is during this time that the enforcement would be implemented (to the extent that Rubio\u2019s and succeeding administrations choose to do so).<\/p>\n

Again: \u00a0pass enforcement mechanisms first, punishing employers who use illegal immigrant labor, either with false papers or paid under the table. \u00a0Go after creators and users of forged IDs. \u00a0Allow employers to question documentation without being hauled up for discrimination. \u00a0Simultaneously, provide \u201ctrue amnesty\u201d (rather than mass legalization) in appropriate cases, such as spouses of US citizens, and allow legalization of limited<\/em> numbers annually, of the most assimilated individuals\/families, with strict caps and selectivity, and with intentional caps on total new arrivals from all categories, as well. \u00a0Require, not sign-off from government agencies, but documentation from credible sources that illegal immigration has been de facto<\/em> eliminated, plus low unemployment and strong wage growth among low earners<\/strong>, \u00a0before these small annual caps on legalization are liberalized, but set some basic requirements in any case, rather than allowing even the greenest of new arrivals to stay.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: \u00a0this is why people support Trump (even though his \u201copen door\u201d doesn\u2019t sound much better). \u00a0They\u2019re tired of these games. \u00a0And, in the end, of the supposedly-strong GOP bench, who\u2019s left?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I wrote my post the other day suggesting that Rubio give a Big Policy Speech on immigration, and make some commitments to the GOP Base, I hadn\u2019t dug into the specifics of Rubio\u2019s backtracking from amnesty. \u00a0And I hadn\u2019t realized how weak Rubio\u2019s current position is. Here\u2019s an article from Breitbart\u00a0(actually from April but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[139,46],"class_list":["post-3144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-illegal-immigrants","tag-immigration"],"yoast_head":"\nReally, Rubio? (more on immigration)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When I wrote my post the other day suggesting that Rubio give a Big Policy Speech on immigration, and make some commitments to the GOP Base, I hadn't dug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Really, Rubio? (more on immigration)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I wrote my post the other day suggesting that Rubio give a Big Policy Speech on immigration, and make some commitments to the GOP Base, I hadn't dug\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-03T19:36:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-01-18T16:47:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html\",\"name\":\"Really, Rubio? (more on immigration)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-03T19:36:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-18T16:47:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\"},\"description\":\"When I wrote my post the other day suggesting that Rubio give a Big Policy Speech on immigration, and make some commitments to the GOP Base, I hadn't dug\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Really, Rubio? (more on immigration)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jane the Actuary\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Really, Rubio? (more on immigration)","description":"When I wrote my post the other day suggesting that Rubio give a Big Policy Speech on immigration, and make some commitments to the GOP Base, I hadn't dug","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Really, Rubio? (more on immigration)","og_description":"When I wrote my post the other day suggesting that Rubio give a Big Policy Speech on immigration, and make some commitments to the GOP Base, I hadn't dug","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html","og_site_name":"Jane the Actuary","article_published_time":"2015-11-03T19:36:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-01-18T16:47:03+00:00","author":"Jane the Actuary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jane the Actuary","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html","name":"Really, Rubio? (more on immigration)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-11-03T19:36:47+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-18T16:47:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a"},"description":"When I wrote my post the other day suggesting that Rubio give a Big Policy Speech on immigration, and make some commitments to the GOP Base, I hadn't dug","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/really-rubio-more-on-immigration.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Really, Rubio? (more on immigration)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/","name":"Jane the Actuary","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a","name":"Jane the Actuary","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jane the Actuary"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}