Rubio's immigration push a potential lift for GOP
Rubio's immigration push a potential lift for GOP
By Donna Cassata Associated Press
Posted: 04/17/2012
WASHINGTON -- Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's push for a Republican version of immigration legislation looks like the answer to the election-year prayers of the GOP -- and Mitt Romney.
Rubio -- telegenic son of Cuban exiles and potential vice presidential pick -- is pulling together a bill that would allow young illegal immigrants to remain in the United States but denies them citizenship, an initial step in the drawn-out, divisive fight over immigration policy and the fate of the 11 million people in the U.S. illegally.
The freshman senator calls his evolving legislation a conservative alternative to the Dream Act -- the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors measure. That Democratic-backed bill, which is overwhelmingly popular with Latinos, would provide a pathway to citizenship to children in the United States illegally if they attend college or join the military. The measure came close to passage in December 2010 but has languished since then.
"We have to come up with an immigration system that honors both our legacy as a nation of laws and also our legacy as a nation of immigrants," Rubio told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
An immigration plan from Rubio could help Republicans make some headway with the fastest growing minority group and its 21 million eligible voters, many concentrated in the contested presidential battleground states of Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado.
Democrats maintain a significant political advantage with Latinos, numbers that were only strengthened by the harsh rhetoric from Republican presidential candidates in this year's primary. Latinos backed Barack Obama over Republican presidential nominee John McCain, 67 to 31 percent, in the 2008 presidential race and they favored Democratic congressional candidates 60 to 38 percent in 2010, according to exit polling. A Pew Research Center survey out Tuesday showed Obama with a solid edge over Romney among Latino registered voters, 67 to 27 percent.
It's a reality the likely Republican presidential nominee clearly recognizes.
"We have to get Hispanic voters to vote for our party," Romney told a fundraiser in Florida on Sunday in which he insisted the GOP needs an alternative to the Dream Act. He warned that a significant number of Latinos backing Obama "spells doom for us," according to NBC News.
Rubio, who notably called on his party to tone down the anti-immigrant talk this year, is working on a plan that would allow young illegal immigrants who came to the United States with their parents to apply for nonimmigrant visas. They would be permitted to stay in the country to study or work, could obtain a driver's license but would not be able to vote.
Rubio said he has not talked to the Romney campaign about his plan but definitely would. "He's our nominee and I think it's important for him to feel comfortable with and be supportive of whatever endeavor we pursue," the senator said.
source: Rubio's immigration push a potential lift for GOP - Inside Bay Area
