On ABC, George Stephanopoulos asked Rubio about his work in
the Florida statehouse in which he “co-sponsored legislation to provide
in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants.”
Stephanopolous asked Rubio directly: “Do
you stand behind that position now?”
Rubio said that he “absolutely” stands behind that legislation:
RUBIO: It was a very narrowly drafted bill. You had to have a certain
GPA, you had to live in the U.S. a long time, you had to graduate from a
Florida high school. It was very narrowly tailored to high-performing students
who found themselves in a situation where they were brought here by their
parents when they were 5, didn’t even speak another language except English and
therefore couldn’t attend college because they were being charged like they
were from out of state. They still had to pay for college but they paid for
what people paid when they lived in Florida. They had to be high school
graduates of Florida.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So you stand behind that?
RUBIO: Yes, of a narrowly tailored bill like that, absolutely.
In theory, this legislation
means that an American student wishing to attend a Florida state university,
who is from the neighboring state of Georgia, would have to pay higher
tuition costs than an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, who has been living
unlawfully in Florida and attending American public schools for the past
thirteen years on the taxpayer dime. Illegal aliens are also eligible for
generous child tax credits, a benefit protected in the Gang of Eight bill.
Indeed, the “taxes” requirement in the Gang of Eight bill would have meant
illegal aliens could receive tax payments in the form of free
cash from the IRS, since poor illegal aliens have no tax liability.
Rubio’s plan to discount
college tuition for illegal aliens will serve as a further magnet to new
illegal immigration, and will also increase competition for college slots and
post-college jobs for American youth who are already struggling. Moreover, due
to affirmative action policies, these illegal aliens will not have their
tuition discounted but their applications give
