Sen. Marco Rubio said Monday he'll vote for a measure that will allow the government to reopen and end the current shutdown, and he believes there is room to negotiate immigration once that happens.
However, legislation can't come as part of a "gang" of legislators, the Florida Republican and member of the 2013 "Gang of Eight" told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" co-host Sandra Smith.
"The best way to deal with these issues is to reopen the government and then work those issues out," Rubio said, admitting he's a "little baffled" on the arguments that have grown about immigration, because "it's very simple" to work out a solution.
There are two things that need to happen," the senator said. "On the one hand, we need to secure our border, we need to build a wall, we need to enforce our immigration laws in a sustainable and permanent way.'
The "vast majority" of Americans support a border wall, one of the cornerstones of President Donald Trump's campaign, Rubio said.
Meanwhile, that solution can't come through legislation proposed as part of a "gang" of lawmakers, Rubio said.
"I think if people can get realistic, we can make a lot of progress very quickly, but it cannot be a product of a 'gang' of four or five people meeting somewhere, putting a bill on the floor, and saying 'take it or leave it,'" Rubio said.
"I was part of an effort like that in 2013 and I see others are trying to do it now. It won't work. This issue is too critical to too many people to be a product of a small group and a 'take it or leave it' proposition."
In 2013, the "Gang of Eight" consisted of four Republicans, including Rubio, and would have granted a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants that were living in the United States.
On Monday, Rubio also pointed out that a solution must also be reached for people protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
"What has complicated it is people come forward and say 'well I want citizenship,' which Republicans and even the president has expressed an openness to, but only if you deal with chain migration," he said.
However, calls for other actions, such as ending chain migration and the diversity lottery, are complicating the issue, he added.
"The base here is pretty easy to understand," Rubio said. "You codify DACA, not citizenship, but you codify the legalization but you do the border and you really do it in a way that's verified, not in a way that they can come back in two years and stop funding it. That's the core of any deal.
What's complicated is all these other things that people are trying to add in, some of which I support, like getting rid of the diversity lottery."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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