Florida Sen. Marco Rubio took a shot at former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush over immigration reform in an interview published Tuesday morning.
Rubio told Politico that Bush is guilty of “legislative malpractice” by suggesting that immigration reform is an easily achievable goal or has a magic solution.
Bush has criticized what he sees as Rubio’s diminished passion for immigration reform, urging the senator to take a more active stance in finding bipartisan consensus, Bush told USA Today.
“God forbid you actually took on something that was controversial and paid a political price,” he exclaimed. “That’s the attitude in D.C. right now. Certainly Sen. Rubio is no different.”
On the other hand, Rubio says it is Washington that is different and that Bush is out of touch with the legislative reality of 2018.
“I understand Jeb’s passion for immigration,” he told Politico. “But insisting on a path forward on immigration that has zero chances of passing is not political courage. It’s legislative malpractice.”
“I want to get this problem solved,” he continued. “I’m not interested in impressing people who I believe are in some ways out of touch with the reality that Donald Trump is president and that the people whose votes we need to get this passed don’t agree with Jeb’s or any of this group of people’s views on immigration.”
Rubio further contended that realistic immigration reform cannot be forged from a legislative minority that “cooks up a bill” that doesn’t connect with the majority in the House or Senate. Rubio was once a member of such a group — the Gang of Eight, that failed to push through immigration reform in 2013.
Instead, Rubio urged simplicity, saying attempts by the Trump administration to end the “diversity lottery” for visas or stop “chain migration” will never succeed because Congress prefers to tinker with, and not overhaul, immigration policy.
