So the GOP’s rising star, and fellow Cuban-American, Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio now supports the Arizona immigration bill.
OK, so the modification of the Arizona immigration bill makes it less problematic. But still, for someone whose parents (like mine) were granted “amnesty” for being on the right side of the Cold War to support this bill is a special kind of chutzpah.
As far as immigrants go, we Cubans got a pretty sweet deal:
Unlike immigrants from other countries, Cubans were granted a special status which made it easier to gain residency. Other immigrants had to prove that they were fleeing for political reasons so that they could be granted the status of a refugee. On the other hand, upon entry onto United States soil, Cubans were automatically given refugee status along with other privileges. Some of these special privileges were introduced in 1966 and included gaining permanent residency status if the Cuban immigrant had resided in the U.S. for at least one year. For Cuban immigrants that had stayed longer than the time period granted on their visitor visas, they were still granted permanent residency.
We didn’t have to “pay a fine” or “go to the back of the line.” But Rubio think that options shouldn’t be extended to mostly Mexican undocumented immigrants:
Rubio also rejected the notion of a “path to citizenship” or “amnesty,” despite “the human stories.”
“There are going to be stories of very young kids that were brought to this country at a very young age who don’t even speak Spanish that are going to be sent back to Nicaragua or some other place. And it’s gonna feel weird and I understand that,” he said, suggesting that those hardships would be a price worth paying.
I understand the politics this guy is facing. If he ever aspires to national office in this Republican party, then he better be tough on “illegals.”
I admit that the rule of law and the right of a sovereign people to define membership through a democratic process is important. Fine, but at the very least acknowledge the irony when you advocate closing the door behind you. Otherwise you’re being what we call in my parent’s native tongue “un mal-agradecido.”
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