Republican strategist Ana Navarro on Wednesday viciously slammed as 'un-American' President Donald Trump's support of merit-based immigration reform, saying that "it is not what we have done for 241 years."
"It is absolutely racist to award a point system: 'I'd like to award points to people that don't lie. I'd like to award points to people that don't fit and pit Americans against each other,'" Navarro told Anderson Cooper on CNN.
"Not allowing folks in who don't speak English and not giving them the opportunity to learn English is absolutely racist and more than racist," she said. "It is un-American."
Navarro, 45, a Nicaraguan immigrant, lives in Miami and supported former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush during last year's presidential primaries.
President Trump on Wednesday backed proposed legislation by Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia that would set new limits on legal immigration and reward access based on merit and skills versus family ties.
"This legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families who deserve an immigration system that puts their needs first and puts America first," Trump told reporters at the White House.
Navarro lashed into the proposal as "one more wedge issue that's being fabricated by the Trump administration for the purpose of keeping his base happy."
She noted that GOP Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas have parents who did not speak English when they arrived in the U.S. from Cuba.
"There's just no way that Marco Rubio, among others in the Republican Party, can look at themselves in the mirror and vote for something like this."
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