It took months for the so-called gang of eight to craft the delicate compromise that’s the foundation of the immigration bill in the Senate. The group had to stay unified to beat back dozens of amendments as the bill went through the Judiciary Committee, but now Rubio is calling for increased border security provisions.
“We all understood that this was a starting point, that the committee process improved the bill, and that it will have to be further improved just to get the votes to pass the Senate not to mention the house”, said Rubio.
But Arizona Republican Senator John McCain – another member of the bipartisan gang of eight – says he doesn’t know where Rubio is getting his numbers.
“If he knows how many votes we need to pass it, he knows", McCain said. "He has information that I don’t have.”
One new proposal would tie the pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers to meeting new border security benchmarks. Some Democrats and immigration groups say that could kill the bill. Rubio is still reviewing the language of the amendment but seems to be leaning in favor of it.
“At the end of the day I am not interested in passing a bill", said Rubio. "I am interested in passing a law that fixes a broken legal immigration system, deals with the 11 million people that are here illegally, and ensures that this never happens again. That’s what I am working on.”
The immigration reform debate is expected to last until the end of this month.