Marco Rubio, R-FL, may have ruffled some feathers with his call for mass deportations. In a recent interview, he called for “dramatic steps” to resolve the border crisis.
Rubio’s remarks come at a time when House Republicans introduced the “Reshape Alternatives to Detention Act of 2020,” aimed to address the constant flow of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants into the United States.”
Rubio appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with Kristen Welker. She brought up Donald Trump’s plan to build detention camps and deport “more than 11 million undocumented migrants” as well as create detention centers for illegals.
Rubio began by noting that the 11-million figure is “outdated,” and that “we are talking about upwards of 20, 25, perhaps 30 million” illegals living in the United States. He then 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 who are here illegally, especially people we know nothing about.”
The United States can’t absorb over 30 million illegal immigrants. pic.twitter.com/UlkGshQ9Ba
— Senator Marco Rubio (@SenMarcoRubio) May 19, 2024
Welker brought up Rubio’s comments about Trump’s proposal for mass deportation in 2016. He said that the suggestion “that you’re going round up and deport eleven million people” was “not reasonable.”
She asked, “Why did you change your mind?” Rubio responded, noting “The issue has changed completely.”
“Now, I’ve seen almost the same number of people in the past three years from around the world. This includes people I think are terrorists and people I think will conduct terrorist attacks here if given the chance, as well as people who were criminals back home. This is something completely different. This is not about immigration. You ask me about immigration. Mass migration is what we are talking about. This is mass migration. This is a serious invasion, and we need to deal with it immediately. “I’m not much of a poll follower but the polls indicate that most Americans agree on this.”
Rubio’s remarks come shortly after Rep. Byron Donalds, R-FL, introduced a bill to overhaul the Alternatives to Detention program (ATD). The bill would change the way immigration enforcement is conducted. The bill aims to eliminate certain ATD programs and reallocate funds toward increasing detention capacity.
The bill would also mandate mandatory detention for illegals who were previously released as part of the ATD programs but have since been terminated. Bill Hagerty, R-TN, who introduced the Senate bill, criticized the Biden Administration for allowing a “tidal surge of illegal aliens” to cross our southern border. This has caused an unprecedented humanitarian and national security crisis.
He added that “Biden’s DHS refuses to enforce laws already in place and is making clear efforts to dismantle the detention system and allow illegal immigrants roaming free throughout the U.S. through abuse of ATD.”
