Immigration Reform 2013: Will the GOP's Crazy Caucus Keep Marco Rubio From Passing a Bill?

Impact

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has some trouble on his hands this week.  

With the Senate’s Gang of Eight immigration bill currently being discussed, it seems that political snares continue to bog down the sense of bipartisanship Rubio hopes to achieve. One of these snares results from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a Tea Party baby and policy hardliner,and his equally hard-line friends, Senators Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Mike Lee(R-Utah), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

As I mentioned in a previous PolicyMic op-ed, Republicans shake their fists over federal spending and attack blueprints for citizenship, then simultaneously ignore the possible $1.5 trillion in GDP over 10 years that granting legal status would provide, plus the $4.5-5.4 billion in tax revenues over three years. Among other things, there is the $18 billion already spent on immigration enforcement last year alone. I would ask Senator Cruz where the solutions are in the status quo.

So while Cruz and his friends run about, Rubio and the Gang of Eight will continue to water down their legislation for the sake of appeasement. What will result is a flimsy, confusing and amendment–packed bill that might pass the Senate but will remain unpalatable to House Republicans when it arrives in their chambers.