Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), one of the lead architects of the 2013 failed amnesty, says the White House’s plan to give at least 1.8 million illegal aliens a pathway to U.S. citizenship is “encouraging.”

In a statement, Rubio praised the White House amnesty plan — crafted by advisers such as Marc Short, Gen. John Kelly, Kirstjen Nielsen, and Stephen Miller — as an “embrace” of “ideas” that the pro-amnesty Senator has “long supported.”

Rubio said:

It is encouraging to see the President embrace some of the ideas I have long supported. I look forward to reviewing the specific legislative text once it is presented. [Emphasis added] Our primary goal should be to send to the President, before March 5, a bill that secures our border and that addresses the plight of the current beneficiaries of DACA in a responsible way. The reaction, from both sides, to the President’s outline is a reminder that the more an immigration bill tries to do, the harder it is to pass. With only five weeks to go before DACA expires, if an agreement can’t be reached on a broader bill, Congress should at least address the most immediate problems. We cannot allow unrealistic and unreasonable expectations to lead us down a path of failure. [Emphasis added]

The White House’s citizenship for illegal aliens plan includes:

Citizenship for at least 1.8 million illegal aliens and potentially millions more

A more than 10-year wait before legal immigration levels are reduced to provide much-needed relief and wage increases to America’s working and middle class

A repurposing of the 50,000 visas that currently import foreign nationals through the Visa Lottery

$25 billion to fund the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border

No provisions to enact mandatory E-Verify, which would ban employers from hiring illegal aliens

No provisions to deal with the issue of ending birthright citizenship

Rubio is responsible for co-authoring the “Gang of Eight” 2013 amnesty plan that ultimately failed but left a lasting reputation on his political career.

Gang of Six amnesty, Gang of Eight amnesty, Short/Kelly/Nielsen/Miller WH amnesty. All rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic as far as an immigration policy that helps American workers. https://t.co/7FkJOZC4vb — John Binder 👽 (@JxhnBinder) January 26, 2018

If passed by Congress and signed by then-President Obama, the Gang of Eight amnesty would have given a pathway to U.S. citizenship to the majority of illegal aliens in the country, of which there are 12 to 30 million.

Also, the Gang of Eight amnesty could have potentially increased legal immigration levels to the U.S. by more than 150 percent in the first decade of its implementation. Rubio’s amnesty would have further imported more low-skilled foreign workers to the country, as well as more H-1B foreign workers who take coveted, high-paying white-collar American jobs.