Sen. Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioFlorida senators pushing to keep Daylight Savings Time during pandemic Hillicon Valley: DOJ indicts Chinese, Malaysian hackers accused of targeting over 100 organizations | GOP senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal | QAnon awareness jumps in new poll Intelligence chief says Congress will get some in-person election security briefings MORE (R-Fla.) wants to curb refugee benefits for Cuban immigrants, claiming that current assistance programs are being misused.

The Cuban-American senator and presidential contender has introduced legislation that would end automatic eligibility for federal assistance under the refugee resettlement program for Cuban immigrants, unless they are fleeing persecution.

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“It is outrageous whenever the American people’s generosity is exploited,” Rubio said. “It is particularly outrageous when individuals who claim to be fleeing repression in Cuba are welcomed and allowed to collect federal assistance based on their plight, only to return often to the very place they claimed to be fleeing."

Rubio pointed to an investigation by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel last year that found current rules allowed Cuban immigrants to come to the United States, collect federal benefits and then return to Cuba with the money.

Under current law, Cuban immigrants are allowed to remain in the country if they touch U.S. soil, even if they arrive illegally, and are automatically eligible for federal benefits.

Rubio said that the current system allows "the flow of American tax dollars into the Castro regime’s coffers, it also undermines the legitimate cause of those Cubans who are truly fleeing repression and political persecution."

Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), who introduced similar legislation in the House late last year, blamed the Obama administration, saying the "mass exodus of Cubans and widespread abuse of our refugee assistance programs are direct consequences of President Obama's reckless Cuba policy."

The Pew Research Center found that there was a 78 percent increase in Cubans entering the United States in the 2015 fiscal year compared to fiscal 2014.