Marco Rubio: Senate needs a ‘plan B’ on immigration if comprehensive bill fails

Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the Senate needs to have a “plan B” if comprehensive immigration reform fails.

The Florida Republican explained that he believes the visa lottery system and chain migration can be dealt with in a way that attracts bipartisan support, but he said if not, the Senate needs to act on DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), those brought to the U.S. illegally as children, and on border security.

“Those things can be done, I’m in favor of doing them, but I’m just saying that if we can’t, if somehow we just can’t get those things done, then we should have a plan B that basically focuses on border security and focuses on making sure that the people here under DACA now do not lose their status,” he said on CBS News.

Mr. Rubio was part of the 2013 so-called “Gang of Eight” bill that tried to address these concerns. The bill was unpopular among Republicans and was never taken up in the House in part because it offered a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.