I’ve been a senator for three weeks. Washington is worse than you’ve heard.
The Washington Post
Op-Ed: Rick Scott
February 1, 2019

I’ve been a U.S. senator for three weeks now, and I can tell you that reports of hate and incompetence in Washington are severely understated. Things are actually much worse than they appear.

One year ago, I called on Congress to make a simple deal on immigration requiring both Republicans and Democrats to do two things — compromise and respect the wishes of the American people. This deal is so logical and so easy, even politicians in Washington should be able to grasp it. But, as the events of the past few weeks have shown, they cannot.

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The public overwhelmingly wants our borders to be secure, plenty of public opinion polls show that. Likewise, the public overwhelmingly wants acceptance for these kids who, through no fault of their own, were brought here, and who have grown up here, gone to school here, and who are now part of the fabric of our country.

My state of Florida is home to more than 27,000 dreamers. The notion that we would — after educating them, protecting them and raising them — kick them out of the country, well, it’s just absurd.

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Securing our borders with a physical barrier is not a partisan issue, it’s a common-sense issue. Likewise, once we agree to secure our borders, it is only common sense to deal fairly and justly with the dreamers.

There is only one thing standing in the way of this common-sense solution for America: irrational and clouded thinking motivated by hate from Democratic leaders in Washington.