Rubio urges against mass deportation as fix to immigration

Despite front-runner Donald Trump’s absence during Thursday’s GOP presidential debate, there was no lack of contentiousness – particularly among rivals Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. As I write this Frank Luntz has one of his focus groups warbling about Marco Rubio.

This isn’t the first time Luntz has talked about Rubio on Fox News without mentioning his financial ties to the candidate.

Mr. Rubio’s ability to answer whether or not he is being disingenuous when he explains why he no longer supports the immigration overhaul he sponsored as a senator is likely to continue to loom large with conservative voters.

Bush then cited a book he’d written on immigration, acknowledging it wasn’t a “best-seller”, and said “we should have a path to legal status”. I will always allow my faith to influence everything I do.

“I will never support, never have and never will support any effort to grant blanket legalization amnesty”, Rubio said in a 2010 clip followed by “Rubio betrayed our trust” in Cruz’s ad. “We are not going to round up and deport 12 million people, but we’re not going to go around handing out citizenship cards either”.

Rubio was referring to money being spent by Right to Rise, the super PAC supporting Bush.

Senators Cruz and Rubio each spent less on luxury hotels and a smaller proportion of their overall lodging expenses on them, at roughly 56 per cent and 61 per cent, respectively, federal filings through the third quarter show. Those statements were made as he argued for what he and many others have said was a poison pill amendment to the gang of eight bill that blocked undocumented immigrants from citizenship. Cruz countered that his push for the amendment, which would make those in America illegally ineligible for citizenship, was important for defeating the bill. “We just heard an argument back and forth that we can’t solve immigration”, Cruz said.

The issue is a familiar one for the former friends; the pair worked together on immigration reform when Bush was still governor of Florida. “The truth is, Ted, throughout this campaign you’ve been willing to say or do anything to get votes”.

“So did you”, Bush fired back. In 2013, Bush praised Rubio for his efforts on immigration reform. “We both made the identical promises, but when we came to Washington we made a different choice”, Cruz said.