Elections

Sen. Sessions: Trump And Cruz Pass On Immigration, Questions Remain About Rubio [AUDIO]

Steve Guest Media Reporter
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Sen. [crscore]Jeff Sessions[/crscore] expressed his doubt of Sen. [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore] on the issue of immigration ahead of the New Hampshire Primary, while extolling Donald Trump and Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] on the issue.

Friday on “The Howie Carr Show,” Sessions said, “This is the deal: if the American people nominate a Republican candidate who favors amnesty and citizenship for illegals, who would favor a massive increase in the number of legal immigrants to America and not effectively deal with the illegal immigrants then the matter is lost.” (RELATED: Rubio: Law-Abiding Illegal Immigrants Can Stay In America [VIDEO])

Sessions argued that the candidates need to be clear about where they stand on legal and illegal immigration, as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. (RELATED: Sen. Sessions: Take TPP Off The Fast Track And ‘Get Busy Defending The Interest Of The American People’ [VIDEO])

Carr asked Sessions who he would vote for between Rubio or Cruz on the issue of immigration to “stop this express train that’s going over the cliff.” Sessions replied, “Well [Donald] Trump of course has been crystal-clear on where he stands, and I’d assume that he would honor that if he was elected and Ted is on the right side of that debate. And I think the people like Jeb [Bush], and [John] Kasich and Marco, if they want to win the Republican nomination, they ought to be crystal clear on where they stand.” (RELATED: Donald Trump Hires Top Aide To Jeff Sessions To Help With Policy)

“And if they were in error before, they should acknowledge that and explain why they’ve changed their mind,” Sessions argued. “That’s perfectly alright to change your mind in America. But I think we should not nominate someone who adheres to the views carried out with the Gang of Eight immigration reform bill. I think that was bad policy and bad law. And if a person who believes that, gets elected president as the Republican nominee and the Republican president that’s not going to be change and we’re going to continue on a bad trend on immigration.” (RELATED: Rush: ‘Rubio’s Political Future Is In The Process Of Being Whittled Down To Nothing’ [VIDEO])

Earlier in the lengthy interview, Carr asked Sessions, “Who are the best candidates for restoring a sane immigration policy for the United States of America?” Sessions replied: “I’ll be frank about it… Hillary Clinton is not going to do it. There’s one opportunity to put this country on the course that good and decent people in this country believe in, a lawful system that serves the people’s interest, and the number of immigrants coming in serve the people’s interest. If we don’t prevail on that in these primaries then it won’t be changed and we’ll continue down this road, perhaps so far that it can’t be changed.”

“And so the candidates have taken different positions on it,” Sessions argued. “Ted [Cruz] was, stood by me as we fought against the Gang of Eight bill that almost, that did pass the Senate and was on the verge of passing in the House when the Republican leader in the House, Eric Cantor got clobbered in his own primary over this issue and that tilted the vote in the House and it failed there. They couldn’t get it through. So Ted even went to the House and lobbied votes against the bill.”

“Marco Rubio was in the Gang of Eight, they met in secret for several months. They met with La Raza, they met with the ACLU, they met with President Obama, they met with the Chamber of Commerce and they wrote this bill and he [Rubio] became the chief proponent of the bill,” Sessions argued. “And it would have increased the lawful flow of immigration from the colossal number of 1 million a year to 1.5 million and would have legalized 11 million people and put them on a path to citizenship and I think [that] was a step in the wrong direction and was ineffective.”

“And all that, and the legalization and the ability to take any job in the American economy, [would be] provided to all of these 11 million people unlawfully here,” Sessions insisted. “And we’ve heard that song before. So Jeb Bush has supported that bill and Santorum and Huckabee opposed it, but I’m not sure where anybody else is.”

Howie Carr then asked: “But what your saying is he [Rubio] was on the wrong side of the biggest attempt to overturn the American immigration system as it should be set up, in the Senate. [Rubio] was not on the right side of the issue but Ted Cruz was? Is that right?”

“That’s right,” Sessions said. “That’s just the true facts as I see it and people have learned a lot. Like Ted, I think has understood that we don’t really have a big shortage of IT workers, and in fact, their wages haven’t gone up in a decade and then he and I did some legislation to improve that. But everybody can learn, Marco could learn. But I think the people of New Hampshire and in every Republican Primary need to ask all their candidates, Howie, they need to ask them where you stand on this.”

“[W]e allow you to change your views and study the views and if you’ve got a different view, but you’ve got to assure us where you are or you’re not going to get our vote and that’s also important on the trade issue as you mentioned. We need to know where these people stand because if we elect a pro-Trans-Pacific Partnership, Obama fast-track trade deal, that will be permanent and be involved for years and if our nominee favors it, there’s no stopping it,” Sessions claimed. “It will become law too, putting us in an international commission that can grow to become like the European Commission grew and I think that’s a big issue. And we just need, they’re not being asked about it clearly in the debates and there’s not enough clarity from these candidates on where they stand and that’s why I’ve posed some questions for them that I think would at least tell the American people where they stand.”

Carr then asked if Sessions believes if Rubio is “now on our side, meaning the American people’s side or is he still with Chuck Schumer, [crscore]Harry Reid[/crscore], and Barack Obama?”

Sessions replied: “Well, I don’t see anything like that clarity that you just mentioned. He did say some things about, that expressed reservations and acknowledged that it could be improved some time ago but it now seems he’s sort of reaffirmed his position essentially. But I’m not sure. It’s not too late for him to clarify that, to address these issues but I think it’s a defining election.”

“And if the nominee of the Republican Party isn’t on the right side of those two critical issues, the country is on immigration will surely not do what the American people want and on the question of trade it’s very likely it will continue in the wrong direction and this Trans-Pacific Partnership Commission and trade deal will occur.”

Later in the interview, Sessions added that “Marco is a good friend but we’ve disagreed on this all the way through but he’s a good person and I wish he could rethink where he is and I don’t think it’s too late but I think the American people have the right to demand it.”

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