Marco Rubio says he would come to the U.S. illegally if he had to

Hypothetically, if Marco Rubio were not an American citizen and could not provide food for his family, he says he would cross the border illegally to come to the United States.

While discussing immigration policy in his new memoir, An American Son, Rubio called for "common decency" in dealing with undocumented immigrants and said that if put in a similar position as those who are fleeing destitution, he would break the law, too.

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Ya' know, I like this guy. His honesty is refreshing. And I'll tell you something else. If Rubio were running at the top of the GOP ticket instead of Romney, I would give him a serious look. And he is right about common decency in dealing with immigrants. There is far too little of that right now, and we need more "Rubio" in America's political dialogue.

Article is here.

I respect his honesty in anwering the question. It is a rare trait.

The thing is, he wouldn't have to. There is a perfectly legal way to come to America, and even become a citizen if so desired.

Common decency is great, but we cannot neglect the well being and safety of natural born citizens and legal immigrants for the sake of common decency towards illegals. There are plenty of illegal immigrants who commit no other crime while living within our borders and I'm happy to provide some sort of transitive program that will grant them eventual citizenship. But that program should not allow illegal immigrant naturalization to take priority over the naturalization of those waiting in line or going through legal channels. That program should also not exist without a comprehensive, effective means of managing the flow of illegal immigrants into the country. Nor should it exist without serious talks and expectations placed at the feet of leaders whose countries provide so few opportunities for their citizens that those citizens feel it best to illegally enter the U.S. in order to prosper.

danarhea said:

Ya' know, I like this guy. His honesty is refreshing. And I'll tell you something else. If Rubio were running at the top of the GOP ticket instead of Romney, I would give him a serious look. And he is right about common decency in dealing with immigrants. There is far too little of that right now, and we need more "Rubio" in America's political dialogue.

Article is here.

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Its a shame that a lot of these politicians seem hellbent on trying to pass another failed amnesty.

Common decency doesn't pay the bills. We are spending more than we take in, so even if people are contributing they are not contributing enough.

Its not like we are getting more rich people to pay for it.

why not come illegally? Its cheaper and quicker to get in. The feds are over tasked and can't manage the borders. The feds fight states that want to address the issue. In the end it seems you could end up with the same benefits. In the end, many of our politicians just give in.

Wow. I'll have to remember that if this guy ever runs for a National Office. Comments like that are an immediate disqualifying factor for my support.

danarhea said:

Ya' know, I like this guy. His honesty is refreshing. And I'll tell you something else. If Rubio were running at the top of the GOP ticket instead of Romney, I would give him a serious look. And he is right about common decency in dealing with immigrants. There is far too little of that right now, and we need more "Rubio" in America's political dialogue.

Article is here.

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That being said, what does Marco Rubio say about an employer that would BREAK THE LAW to hire an illegal alien, paying them less than the "customary" and prevailing wages, offering them NO other benefits and being quite assured that no complaints could be made about the working conditions? It is STILL a very good deal when compared to what the illegal alien left, yet not nearly the good deal that it COULD be, without the ILLEGAL alien's VOLUNTARY presense.

That same job would still be there, but would be filled ONLY if the pay and benefits OFFERED were attractive enough to get a citizen or LEGAL guest worker to take that job. A LEGAL guest worker CAN insist on decent pay and safe/sanitary working conditions, BEFORE relocating their family. Why should Marco Rubio get "first dibs" on a U.S. job because he (and his familiy) cuts the line? How is that fair to OUR citizens OR to his fellow countrymen who sign up for LEGAL work in the U.S.?

The law of the jungle is not "fair" as it always favors might over right. The fact that people live in very corrupt counties under poor conditions does NOT necessarily make them "head of line" candidates for U.S. immigration policy; it would be interesting to hear his "justification" for getting/giving an immigration advantage to those that simply ignore immigration law; are we to assume that these same ILLEGAL folks will not ignore many other U.S. laws as well, if it is simply deemed in their best self interest to do so?.

danarhea said:

Ya' know, I like this guy. His honesty is refreshing. And I'll tell you something else. If Rubio were running at the top of the GOP ticket instead of Romney, I would give him a serious look. And he is right about common decency in dealing with immigrants. There is far too little of that right now, and we need more "Rubio" in America's political dialogue.

Article is here.

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The problem is with illegal immigrants, not legal ones. I understand how he feels about the issue, and I can't say that I would feel different, if I were a Mexican, but immigration laws need to be enforced, otherwise illegal immigration will continue to grow as a problem.

lizzie said:

The problem is with illegal immigrants, not legal ones. I understand how he feels about the issue, and I can't say that I would feel different, if I were a Mexican, but immigration laws need to be enforced, otherwise illegal immigration will continue to grow as a problem.

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Exactly. Its GREAT for Mexicans, Canadians and Cubans. It is far harder to sell that "logic" to those in Africa, South America, Europe or Asia. How would Marco Rubio feel if I hired him and paid him "only what I could spare at the time", noting that I could have him and his family deported if he did not come back to work for me next week?

lizzie said:

The problem is with illegal immigrants, not legal ones. I understand how he feels about the issue, and I can't say that I would feel different, if I were a Mexican, but immigration laws need to be enforced, otherwise illegal immigration will continue to grow as a problem.

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Thomas Sowell says:

Ultimately, it does not matter what immigration policy this country has, if it cannot control its own borders. Whoever wants to come, and who has the chutzpah, will come. And the fact that they come across the Mexican border does not mean that they are all Mexicans. They can just as easily be terrorists from the Middle East.

Only after the border is controlled can any immigration policy matter be seriously considered, and options weighed through the normal Constitutional process of Congressional hearings, debate and legislation, rather than by Presidential short-cuts.

Not only is border control fundamental, what is also fundamental is the principle that immigration policy does not exist to accommodate foreigners but to protect Americans -- and the American culture that has made this the world's richest, freest and most powerful nation for more than a century.

No nation can absorb unlimited numbers of people from another culture without jeopardizing its own culture. In the 19th and early 20th century, America could absorb millions of immigrants who came here to become Americans. But the situation is entirely different today, when group separatism, resentment and polarization are being promoted by both the education system and politicians.

The Immigration Ploy - Thomas Sowell - [page]

nota bene said:

Thomas Sowell says:

Ultimately, it does not matter what immigration policy this country has, if it cannot control its own borders. Whoever wants to come, and who has the chutzpah, will come.

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He should have stopped there. That was Rubio's point. You can't stop people from coming if the motivation if is high ... unless you're willing to become East Germany.

AdamT said:

He should have stopped there. That was Rubio's point. You can't stop people from coming if the motivation if is high ... unless you're willing to become East Germany.

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The Berlin Wall was built to keep people in, not out.

lizzie said:

The Berlin Wall was built to keep people in, not out.

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True, but the same principle applies.

AdamT said:

True, but the same principle applies.

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The principles are opposite. One is to keep people from escaping, the other is to keep people from entering. The method would be the same, but not the underlying principle.

AdamT said:

He should have stopped there. That was Rubio's point. You can't stop people from coming if the motivation if is high ... unless you're willing to become East Germany.

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WRONG. You can arrest them, confiscate ALL of their personal property and deport them. I am sick and tired of a U.S. citizen selling marijuana "on the side" getting a harsher sentence than an illegal immigrant popping out kids to be educated by the taxpayers, then getting welfare since the kids are then instant U.S. citizens by birth. You can't stop shoplifting, selling street drugs, grazing in the grocery store, breaking into cars/hoimes or income tax cheating either, if the motivation is high, but we somehow insist on at least trying. The NONSENSE attitude that some laws or OK to break, so just live with it, NEVER seems to be applied when it is YOU that must bear the cost. People also do not stop and think; if that illegal broke the immigration law, why would they not feel entitled to take my lawn mower, bicycle or gas can too? All is fine if some anonymous slob working in the construction trades gets their pay cut or is replaced by an illegal willing to work for less, but if YOU were given the same "deal" then it would somehow not be seen as fair. You don't see your kids sharing a classroom with non-english speaking folks, slowing the whole class down, or being forced to pay more taxes to supply an extra ESL teacher for them. Are your "emergency" PSA announcemnts on TV now more than twice as long and being repeated in Spanish? It is all wonderful as long as it is not YOU being negatively impacted, wait until one of these fine folks crashes their uninsured car into your house or business and they get that stiff sentence of "go home".

lizzie said:

The principles are opposite. One is to keep people from escaping, the other is to keep people from entering. The method would be the same, but not the underlying principle.

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The principle I'm talking about is severe government action.

AdamT said:

The principle I'm talking about is severe government action.

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Nothing wrong with severe action for a severe problem. The fact is we can't pay for them. They have a drastic impact wages, working conditions, unemployment rate, education. They are a strain to all social resources.

You can't get the country to agree to tax the rich more to pay for what we got. And what they contribute in tax is not even going to come close to covering it.

Bring all the troops home, put them on the border.

AdamT said:

True, but the same principle applies.

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What? Lets get rid of prisons too then, let freedom reign! Morons see no harm in having SOME laws, to protect them, but hey, if it is only the job that you did not want, that is now taken (or had the wages/benefits lowered) by an illegal alien it is a good thing, since it saves you money and makes you feel that you are helping to save the third world too. You are mighty generous with the quality of lives other than your own. Lets cut the minimum wage to that of Mexico, just to be fair; that is what the effect of illegal labor is, on many folks in the trades but, since you are not one of them, all is good.

ttwtt78640 said:

What? Lets get rid of prisons too then, let freedom reign! Morons see no harm in having SOME laws, to protect them, but hey, if it is only the job that you did not want, that is now taken (or had the wages/benefits lowered) by an illegal alien it is a good thing, since it saves you money and makes you feel that you are helping to save the third world too. You are mighty generous with the quality of lives other than your own. Lets cut the minimum wage to that of Mexico, just to be fair; that is what the effect of illegal labor is, on many folks in the trades but, since you are not one of them, all is good.

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Morons see draconian government action as the solution to every problem. In this case, of course, we need to patrol the border, but it makes no sense to shut it down completely as a precondition to liberalizing immigration laws. It's like saying, "before we raise the speed limit to 65, we need to arrest every single person who breaks the 55mph limit." Totally illogical.

AdamT said:

Morons see draconian government action as the solution to every problem. In this case, of course, we need to patrol the border, but it makes no sense to shut it down completely as a precondition to liberalizing immigration laws. It's like saying, "before we raise the speed limit to 65, we need to arrest every single person who breaks the 55mph limit." Totally illogical.

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What? Not even close..

More like, before we raise the speed limit to 65 we're going to force auto makers to put governors on thier engines.


Tim-

AdamT said:

Morons see draconian government action as the solution to every problem. In this case, of course, we need to patrol the border, but it makes no sense to shut it down completely as a precondition to liberalizing immigration laws. It's like saying, "before we raise the speed limit to 65, we need to arrest every single person who breaks the 55mph limit." Totally illogical.

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We have between 11 and 15 MILLION illegal aliens here now, plus at least twice that number in "anchor babies", unemployemnt is WAY up, and you think that we need LAXER laws? You are INSANE. For every illegal alien that is deported that has a job (trust me, that MANY do), that is one more U.S. citizen that is back to work. Do that 3.4 miilion times and we have solved much of the unemployment problem.

danarhea said:

Ya' know, I like this guy. His honesty is refreshing. And I'll tell you something else. If Rubio were running at the top of the GOP ticket instead of Romney, I would give him a serious look. And he is right about common decency in dealing with immigrants. There is far too little of that right now, and we need more "Rubio" in America's political dialogue.

Article is here.

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I like him too............

wow, a Republican lending moral support to illegal aliens. that is a new one.