by Javier Manjarres

Senator Marco Rubio recently made the rounds at U.S. Military’s Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) in Doral, Florida, where he was taken on a tour of the facility and briefed on military matters in the southern hemisphere.  SOUTHCOM is charged with overseeing all U.S. national security interests and military operations in the Caribbean, Central and South America. In expressing  his support for the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, Senator Rubio reiterated his illegal immigration position by stating that Florida does not need an immigration law similar to the Arizona immigration law, a law that sparked substantial controversy during the 2010 election cycle.  Senator Rubio took much criticism from his constituents regarding the issue when he stated that the law could could lead to racial profiling and a “police state”- Rubio later supported the amended bill after the bill’s language was amended.

Senator Rubio’s main focus at the present time is to try to tackle the national debt and help ‘right’ the sinking ship, that being the U.S. economy. But there are some who are concerned that Rubio may put off the campaign pledge to confront the illegal immigration issue that he said was a Federal issue, and if elected to the Senate, he would address.

Rubio has been plagued with strong criticisms in regards to his purported ‘soft line’ approach to illegal immigration while he was the Speaker of the Florida House. Many voters and constituents that followed the controversial immigration bills that were proposed while he was the Speaker have accused Rubio of thwarting efforts to let these bills go to a vote- they were stuck in committee and voted down.

Several Tallahassee insiders have said that Rubio had the influence to ‘push’ the bills through their respective committees and on to the floor for a vote, but Rubio blocked their passage instead. Now the rumblings are starting that Rubio may not  address the issue as a U.S. Senator after all. Rubio sits on the Senate Intelligence and the Foreign Relations committees, committees that, considering the rapidly spreading concerns over Radical Islam and illegal immigration, are involved in dealing with  ‘foreign’ threats that are coming across the U.S. borders.

The question now is whether Senator Rubio can walk and chew gum at the same time in regards to tackling the national debt and dealing with illegal immigration.  Senator Rubio has also taken a hard line stance against the Radical Islam with some pretty strong anti-radical Islam talking points, but he has yet to address radical Islam’s inextricable ties to illegal immigration. Continued reports coming out of Mexico paint a terrifying picture of our worst fears being realized.  Hezbollah and other terrorist groups are actively working and planning in Mexico, then crossing over the border-the carnage and beheadings in along the border region are the “M.O.” for Militant Islamic terror groups.

Rubio’s “pro-legal’ immigration campaign platform will be put to the test this year as the growing tide of Islamic extremism continues to seep across out borders, and our present non-enforcement policy will eventually lead to what Congressman Allen West describes as a “cataclysmic event” if nothing is done to address this threat.  Will it take another 9-11-style atrocity to make the politicos in Washington D.C. realize that the illegal immigration issue is not a racial issue, but a security issue?  Senator Rubio, you have the proverbial ‘pelota’ in your hand, will you throw a strike against this growing threat, or will you intentionally pass?