Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he expects Mitt Romney to “replace” President Obama’s deportation directive that halted deportations for most illegal immigrants under 30 who were brought here as children.
The Florida senator, who will introduce Mr. Romney on Thursday to the thousands gathered at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, said during an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he believes the former Massachusetts governor will seek a “permanent solution to the problem” and that he believes President Obama’s directive “ignores the separation of powers” in the Constitution.
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Asked by host George Stephanopolis whether Mr. Romney would rescind the decision, Mr. Rubio said, “I think he’s going to replace it.”
“That’s what I think you can expect from the Romney presidency,” he said.
The Romney camp has refused to say whether the GOP nominee will rescind the non-deportation policy that Mr. Obama announced in July. The move unilaterally put a stop to deportations for illegal immigrants who would have qualified for the Dream Act — legislation that has been bottled up in Congress and that would have granted a path to citizenship to many illegal immigrants age 30 and younger.
Mr. Rubio tried unsuccessfully to push a more limited Dream Act earlier this year, and Mr. Romney said at a fundraiser earlier this year that the party should push a Republican Dream Act — though his strategy in courting Hispanics has since focused on how they have suffered economically more than most thanks to the policies embraced by the Obama administration.
Polls continue to show Mr. Romney trails Mr. Obama by wide margins among Hispanics, a growing and increasingly powerful voting bloc.
