Continues to Turn His Back on Solutions that Benefit Local Immigrants
Yet again, Senator Marco Rubio proves his willingness to throw the immigrant community under the bus in his quest for re-election.
On Wednesday, Florida’s junior Senator supported two Trump-inspired anti-immigration legislative bills, the Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act and Kate’s Law. Rubio’s support came on the same day that the state’s Tea Party PAC endorsed him for his embrace of their anti-comprehensive immigration reform position and one day after his Senate primary opponent, Carlos Beruff, criticized him for his role in the 2013 Gang of Eight bill, which he later abandoned.
The Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act would have eliminated federal funding for cities and counties that limit the interaction between local law enforcement and the federal government on immigration issues. Kate’s Law would have imposed mandatory minimums and increased penalties for undocumented immigrants who re-enter the U.S. illegally. While Republicans tried to frame the bills as a matter of public safety, studies continue to show that these measures hinder law enforcement efforts, as they increase Latino fears of law enforcement and decrease their interactions with police, even when they are victims of a crime.
Further, the legislation would remove vital economic development dollars from the cities that need it the most. Florida cities alone could have lost more than $31 million in Community Development Block Grant funding if these bills had passed.
Although both measures fell short of the necessary 60 votes, another vote could be rescheduled any time before this fall.
“While Sen. Rubio pretends to denounce the racist rhetoric of Donald Trump in public, his voting record yesterday proves otherwise,” said Florida’s Voice Director Elbert Garcia. “Instead of working to find a way to fix this nation’s broken immigration laws and restore hope and security to millions of children and families, Sen. Rubio decides to align himself with those who push ineffective, harmful, and expensive proposals that only seek to pander to the worst nativist strands of our population. That’s not the leadership that our communities need.”
