Team Rubio says 'no welfare,' but its amnesty bill says otherwise

No welfare! That has been one of Team Rubio’s oft-used talking points about its amnesty bill.

Rubio’s chief of staff, Cesar Conda:

@Schwabcycler Not sure it's all too "comfy". Pay taxes, pay fines, no welfare, back of line, 13 year wait to apply for citizenship.

— CesarConda (@CesarConda) April 19, 2013

@SonsofReagan Undocumented aliens aren't given anything. They must pay fines, pay taxes, learn English, no welfare, go to back of line.

— CesarConda (@CesarConda) April 19, 2013

@CommieJuice There is no amnesty. To qualify for RPI status, one must pass criminal background check, pay fines, pay taxes, no welfare.

— CesarConda (@CesarConda) April 19, 2013

No access to welfare, and tough new eligibility standards to prevent legalization for those likely to require welfare in the future.

— CesarConda (@CesarConda) April 11, 2013

Conda retweeted this:

Illegal immigrants who get legal status won't be able to get Obamacare benefits: http://t.co/6RxTiDKjtO

— Katrina Trinko (@KatrinaTrinko) April 10, 2013

Rubio press secretary Alex Conant, the guy who recently likened Green Card holders to slaves, retweeted this:

Sen, Marco Rubio @senmarcorubio rules out welfare, entitlement and #Obamacare benefits for immigration reform.Good.They come to work. #tcot

— Larry Kudlow (@larry_kudlow) April 14, 2013

Sen. Rubio himself has spread the no-welfare meme on numerous occasions:

“They don’t qualify for any federal benefits including Obamacare, no welfare, no food stamps.”

“And then they don’t qualify for any federal benefits. This is an important point. No federal benefits, no food stamps, no welfare, no Obamacare.”

Senator McCain announced on April 9 that the bill’s authors “do not intend to have the proposals that we are enacting be additional costs to the taxpayers of America.” That’s outrageously untrue.

So is Senator Rubio’s claim that illegal immigrants granted provisional status will “have to be able to support themselves, so they’ll never become a public charge.” The Senate bill does say that, citing the never-enforced section 212(a)(4). But the bill also waives that requirement for anyone who is unemployed, in job training, getting a high school or GED diploma, taking care of a child, younger than 21 or older than 60, or attending college (pp. 99-102). That covers everyone. To stay in this country as a provisional and qualify for a green card in ten years, you need to be working except if you’re not (Sec. 245C(b)).

And that’s not all:

Sections 2106, 2534, 2535, and 2536 put community organizations in charge of educating immigrants about citizenship and American principles. Indoctrination on the merits of a welfare state is more like it. On a smaller scale, this has been going on since 2009. Past grant recipients included One America, a Seattle group that agitates for LGBT and immigrant rights, and Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights, which claims to “build political power through citizenship drives and voter registration.”

There’s more. Much more. Read her entire column here.

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