U.S. SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): Look, there are some things in that bill that we should do. You know, change the asylum standard and the like. Here's what else the bill did. The bill basically creates an asylum court, OK? It creates a bunch of, you know, thousands of bureaucrats, basically, agents- asylum agents, that would be empowered right at the border to either allow people into the country with an immediate work permit, today they have to wait six months. You give them an immediate work permit, you’re going to have more people coming. And that's a huge magnet. Or they have the power to immediately release them and grant them asylum which now puts them on a five-year path to citizenship. Which is what a lot of Democrats want. They want to turn a bunch of illegal immigrants into voter- into citizens, into voters in the hopes that those people will then turn around and vote for them in future elections, grateful because they know who let them in. That's a huge problem. That doesn't solve the border. It makes it worse.
JAKE TAPPER: This doesn't provide a path to citizenship for any of these people, just to clarify. But- but it raises… you know-
RUBIO: Yes, it does. Absolutely it does. No- yes, it does. When you have asylum, you are on a path to citizenship. On asylum, when you get asylum you are a year away from a green card, and four years away from citizenship.
TAPPER: But you said you approved of the asylum changes.
RUBIO: And those bureaucrats would have the power to grant you asylum. Not even a judge. A bureaucrat.