DALLAS -- Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a rising conservative star, told a group of fellow Republicans on Friday that their party needs to convert its message on immigration from negative to positive.
"I think it's pretty clear what the Republican Party is against when it comes to legal immigration and illegal immigration. Now I think it's important for the Republican Party to take the next step and start talking about what we're for," Rubio said at a Hispanic leadership event hosted by the Associated Republicans of Texas.Rubio said Republicans need to stress their interest in "modernizing" the country's legal-immigration system. Such a move could be a game-changer in drawing Hispanics to the party, he said."In the Hispanic community, when you're talking about immigration, you're not just talking about statistics. ... It's the real lives of real people whose tragedies you know and see," Rubio said.He said Hispanics should be drawn to the Republican Party because it truly understands the free-enterprise system, the same system that makes the country so attractive to Hispanics in other parts of the world.Texas Democrats were quick to criticize Rubio's participation in the Republican event."If Marco Rubio wants to be taken seriously by the Latinos he's trying to engage, he needs to denounce the anti-Latino proposals of the Republican Party," said state Rep. Roberto Alonzo, D-Dallas.Rubio was elected to the Senate in 2010. He is often mentioned as a possible presidential running mate, although he has said he is not interested. A recent Suffolk University poll of voters in Florida indicated that the GOP nominee will have a better chance of winning the state if Rubio is on the ticket.State Rep. Aaron Peña, R-Edinburg, drew cheers when he predicted that Americans would someday refer to "President Rubio."Rubio has been pressed in recent weeks about his views on in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, an issue that has developed into an attack point for Gov. Rick Perry's primary opponents. As a state legislator, Rubio co-sponsored a bill modeled on the Texas bill that Perry signed. Last month, Rubio suggested that he's now less supportive."As a general rule, people in the United States who are here without documents should not benefit from programs like in-state tuition," Rubio said, according to the National Journal.Aman Batheja, 817-390-7695Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
