Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is supporting a White House-embraced bill to cut legal immigration in half and prioritize highly skilled immigrants who speak English — a starkly different position from one he championed in 2013 immigration reform, McClatchy News reported.
"I'm glad to see the president is open to a step by step approach to improving our immigration laws, and I stand ready to work with my colleagues in Congress on common sense proposals to achieve real progress for Americans on this issue," Rubio said in a statement, McClatchy reported.
"I continue to support reform that prioritizes welcoming people to our country based on their skills, not just on whether they have a family member already living here."
Of the four GOP senators who worked on the 2013 reform bill, which expanded the visa program for low-skilled workers, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., both oppose the new plan. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is undergoing cancer treatment, but in February said he was "not interested" in the bill, McClatchy reported.
Rubio did not play a role in drafting the new proposal, his office told McClatchy.
The current immigration system favors families seeking to reunite with relatives already in the United States; the Raise Act proposes to limit the number of green cards awarded each year, cut the number of refugees allowed into the United States by half and eliminate a lottery that randomly awards green cards.