Florida Republicans are changing their strategies on how to get immigration reform passed. While Senator Marco Rubio is backing away from a comprehensive plan, at least one south Florida Republican is now embracing that approach.
Rubio angered his former tea party base of support when he cosponsored and voted for comprehensive immigration reform. He’s now backing off that Senate passed bill that includes a path to citizenship and throwing his support behind the House Republican approach of tackling immigration one issue at a time, starting with border security. But South Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is now only the second House Republican to endorse the comprehensive Senate bill.“Some of the press have said ‘immigration reform is dead,’ and I wanted to show a proof of life. That there’s a pulse there", Ros-Lehtinen said. "We’re just trying to fix a broken system and it’s important to keep the discussions going.”
Even if Ros-Lehtinen is trying to rev up support, the appetite for immigration reform seems to have gone away after the government shutdown frayed relationships in Washington and left members of both parties angry.