Rubio's new tune on immigration

[DonViejo]

By Peter Sullivan

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is singing a new tune on immigration as he eyes a possible 2016 presidential run, but it may not be enough to win over disaffected conservatives just yet.

Rubio was a leading champion of the comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate last year. But in a letter to President Obama and a series of four media interviews this week, he made clear that he now favors additional measures to secure the border before there is even talk of a pathway to legal status for those in the country illegally.

Even in the spring of 2013, when the Senate bill was moving forward, supporting the measure was a risky move for the rising star. Conservative National Review ran a cover showing Rubio laughing and standing next to liberal Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), behind the headline “Rubio’s Folly.”

After the bill passed in June of that year, Rubio plummeted in early presidential primary polls he once led and has remained in single digits. He was the runner-up in the 2013 straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference, but fell to 7th place with just 6 percent this year.



Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/216311-rubios-new-tune-on-immigration#ixzz3BzRo1Lok
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