Rubio and Nelson Comment on Immigration Issue

Illegal Immigration has been an important political issue, and its prominence in the political landscape has only heightened by the election of President Donald Trump.

Concerning the matter, recent outcry has spread about splitting up families with deportation. Florida Senator Bill Nelson joined other Democratic lawmakers is signing a letter directed to the Trump administration attacking the practice.

In the letter, the lawmakers write that "Your decision to separate children from their parents at the border is cruel, unnecessary, ineffective, and goes against our values as Americans. There is no legitimate reason why these children need to be separated from their parents. … We ask that your Administration rescind this unethical, ineffective, and inhumane policy and instead prioritize approaches that align with our humanitarian American values.”

Republican Senator Marco Rubio agrees with the sentiments, but he was not one of the lawmakers that signed the letter.

In an interview with Face the Nation, Senator Rubio commented that "Number one is we have a problem and it needs to be dealt with. The ideal scenario is that families be kept together and returned expeditiously back to their country of origin. We sympathize with people that are coming here. America is the most generous country in the world and ideally you wouldn't put people through additional trauma once they came into the United States."

Rubio also emphasized strengthening border security "To send a clear message that you cannot continue to enter the United States illegally. It is actually inhumane not to secure our border because we are sending out a message that is encouraging people to come here we have to understand a lot of these people that are crossing children are being trafficked here. They are being brought here by criminal groups that help guide them and often take advantage of them and brutalize them on the path towards the United States and the ability to cross that border is a magnet that is drawing this behavior."