Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday that reforms can be made to the U.S. immigration system if Democrats avoid “unrealistic” demands like blanket amnesty for illegal immigrants.

“You have to enforce your laws,” Mr. Rubio, Florida Republican, said on “Fox & Friends.” “If you’re not enforcing the laws you have now, why are people to believe you’re going to enforce the laws you may have in the future?”

Mr. Rubio also said President Trump talked about modernizing the immigration system so that’s it’s “merit-based,” according to the president’s address to Congress Tuesday evening.

“And then you can do something very reasonable with the people who have been here a long time who are not gangbangers, who are not criminals, who are not a threat to public safety,” he said.

“It has to happen in that order and in those steps, and I believe if Democrats are willing to accept that direction, then we can get something done,” Mr. Rubio said.

“And if they continue to fight for the unrealistic, the let’s give everybody blanket amnesty or let’s give everybody citizenship or let’s do it backwards or let’s be against any effort to enforce the law beyond symbolic things, then I think we’re going to continue to be stuck in the cycle we’ve been in,” he said.

Mr. Rubio was part of the “Gang of Eight” comprehensive immigration bill that passed the U.S. Senate in 2013, but he later backed away from the effort.

Mr. Trump told TV reporters at the White House Tuesday that the “time is right” for an immigration bill if both sides are willing to compromise.

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