Marco Rubio doesn't want to say what he thinks about Donald Trump's mass deportation plan for 11 million-plus undocumented immigrants. Jeb! Bush and John Kasich, meanwhile, both unequivocally denounced it during Tuesday night’s debate. Here's ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday morning asking Rubio a simple "yes" or "no" question:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Trump’s mass deportation plan — Kasich called it “silly” and “not adult.” Is he right?
RUBIO: First of all, my position on this plan is well stated. We have to deal with immigration in three steps. We can’t do it all at once. We tried to do that in 2013. And the American people just don’t trust the federal government. So we have to begin by proving to people that illegal immigration numbers are down significantly. The second step would be to modernize our legal immigration system, so that it’s merit based. And after we do those two things, we have to responsibly — but realistically — deal with people that are here illegally.
As I said, if you’re a criminal, if you haven’t been here very long, you can’t stay. For everyone else, you have to pass a background check, learn English, pay a fine, start paying taxes, and you get a work permit. And that’s all you’ll have for at least 10 years. I think this is the way forward. That’s my position. It’s been well stated for a long time. And I think it’s really the only way forward on immigration at this point.
The only person who thinks Rubio's position on Trump’s plan is "well stated" is Rubio. He went on three morning shows Wednesday—CBS This Morning, ABC's Good Morning America, and NPR Morning Edition—and said absolutely zero about whether he supports Trump's mass deportation plan.
Meanwhile, he's recently flip-flopped on President Obama's executive actions on immigration, saying last week that he now opposes the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and would end it immediately.
The thing we do know is that Rubio emphasizes border security first.
But no, Senator, we don't know where you stand on Trump's deportation plan. So which is it: Do you support it, "yes" or "no"?
