Rubio supports Trump's deportation plans amid border surge: 'Going to have to do something dramatic'

"We cannot absorb 25, 30 million people who entered this country illegally. They’re here illegally, what country on earth could tolerate that?" says Rubio, who in 2013 supporting immigration reform legislation that included a path to citizenship

Published: May 20, 2024 12:34pm

Updated: May 20, 2024 12:36pm

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla, says he supports former President Trump's proposal to use the U.S. National Guard to deport illegal immigrants amid a record amount of migrants entering the U.S. over the border.

Rubio was asked on NBC’s "Meet the Press" on Sunday if he supports Trump's deportation plans.

"Yes," Rubio said. "We cannot absorb 25, 30 million people who entered this country illegally. They’re here illegally, what country on earth could tolerate that?" 

Rubio supported immigration reform legislation that included a path to citizenship in 2013. He said the added influx of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally since that time calls for a new approach.

"Unfortunately, we’re going to have to do something dramatic to remove people from this country that are here illegally, especially people we know nothing about," Rubio said.

"11 million was the number [of illegal immigrants] 10 years ago. We’re [now] talking upwards of 20, 25, maybe 30 million. There’s been almost 10 million people that have entered this country unlawfully in the last three years," he also said.

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