Sen. Marco Rubio joins other members of Congress for a news conference. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images)
"We have 12 or 13 million human beings who have been here for a long time. There’s not really a realistic way of rounding up and deporting 12 or 13 million people and our nation wouldn’t want to do that anyway. It does need to be addressed and it does need to be addressed in a series of manners; we’re not going to be able to do it in one big piece of legislation – we learned that two years ago, the last time we tried," Rubio said while campaigning in Iowa in 2015, according to a report from Politico.
Trump has vowed to implement a plan of mass deportation if he wins November’s election, promising last month to use the National Guard if needed to deport illegal immigrants from the country.
Rubio acknowledged that there were millions more people in the country today compared to when he gave the NBC interview, but argued that the dangers of the U.S. being unable to properly vet the flow of incoming migrants justified "dramatic" action.
A group of migrants attempts to enter the U.S. by rushing the border, March 21, 2024, knocking down Texas National Guardsmen before they were stopped. (James Breeden for New York Post/Mega)
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"This is not immigration, this is mass migration," Rubio said. "This is an invasion of the country."
Rubio’s office did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rubio-changes-stance-trump-deportation-plan-invasion-country