Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) might have rankled a few feathers when he called for mass deportations of illegal immigrants. During a recent interview, he argued for “dramatic” steps to address the ongoing border crisis.
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Rubio’s comments come as House Republicans have introduced the “Reshape Alternatives to Detention Act of 2024,” aimed at addressing the constant flow of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers into the United States.”
On Sunday, Rubio participated in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with host Kristen Welker, who brought up former President Donald Trump’s plan to create detention camps for illegals and deport “more than 11 million undocumented immigrants.” She asked whether the senator supported that plan.
Rubio started by pointing out that the 11 million number is “outdated” and noting that “we’re talking upwards of 20, 25, maybe 30 million” illegals in the country. Then, he addressed Welker’s question:
“The answer to your question is, yes, we cannot absorb 25, 30 million people who entered this country illegally. They are here illegally. What country on Earth would tolerate that? We don’t even know who most of these people are. They talk about vetting. Vetting them with what? They’re coming from nations that don’t even have documented systems in many cases. Yes, we are going to have to do something. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to do something dramatic to remove people from this country that are here illegally, especially people we know nothing about.”
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Welker then brought up comments Rubio made regarding Trump’s mass deportation proposal back in 2016. He argued that it was not “reasonable” to suggest “you’re going to round up and deport 11 million people.”
“Why have you changed your mind now,” she asked. Rubio replied, noting that “the issue has completely changed.
“Now, we’ve had almost that number in the last three years alone from all over the world, including people that I believe are terrorists, people that I believe are going to conduct terrorist attacks in this country, have given the opportunity, certainly people that were criminals in their home country. This is a completely different… This is not immigration. You ask me about immigration. This is mass migration. Mass migration. This is an invasion of the country, and it needs to be dealt with dramatically. And by the way, I’m not a big poll follower, but polls show most Americans agree on this.”
Rubio’s comments come just after Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) introduced a bill seeking to overhaul the current Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program. The bill would make substantial changes to how immigration enforcement is carried out. It aims to do away with certain ATD programs and reallocate the funds toward increasing detention capacity.
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The bill would also require the mandatory detention of illegals previously released under the ATD programs that were terminated. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), who introduced the bill in the Senate, slammed the Biden administration for allowing “a tidal wave of illegal aliens to come across our southern border, which has created an unprecedented national security and humanitarian crisis.”
“Biden’s DHS is refusing to enforce the laws already on the books and making clear efforts to dismantle detention and allow illegal immigrants to roam free throughout the U.S. by abusing ATD,” he added.