Rubio Offers Full-Throated Support for Immigration Bill

The impending introduction of legislation to overhaul the country’s badly strained immigration system received an extraordinary send-off on Sunday from Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who, after holding back for weeks, appeared on no fewer than seven television talk shows to explain and defend a plan that he said would be “a net positive for the country, now and in the future.”

It was a striking show of confidence from Mr. Rubio, a Republican and one of eight members of a bipartisan Senate group that has been crafting a plan to provide a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants; only weeks ago he had been a voice for caution, a counterweight to the optimism being expressed by others in the group.

But on Sunday, by discussing the plan on the five major network talk shows, plus the Spanish-language networks Telemundo and Univision, he clearly was signaling that the plan was ready for public consumption and Congressional scrutiny, and that he was prepared to throw his full weight behind it - perhaps, at the same time, risking his own prospects for a widely expected presidential run in 2016.

His tone seemed to reflect those high stakes.

In each appearance he spoke with a sense of urgency, arguing that the plan did not constitute amnesty for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country; that those immigrants, while awaiting full legal citizenship only after more than a decade, would receive no federal benefits; and that the plan depended on tougher border security and better systems for verifying the employment and legal standing of people already in the country.

Mr. Rubio’s status as a Tea Party member, a prominent young Latino and a rising star in the Republican Party means his imprimatur on the legislation will carry weight. One leading Republican, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, last week praised Mr. Rubio as “indispensable” and “a game changer.”

The timing of the plan’s formal introduction remains unclear. Mr. Rubio would say only that it would come “as early as this week.” But a Democrat on the bipartisan group, Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, said that all remaining hurdles had been removed.

“I see nothing in the way,” Mr. Schumer said on the ABC program “This Week,” “and I think you’ll see a major agreement that’s balanced, that’s fair, that will have the widespread support of the American people, on Tuesday.”

The odds on ultimate passage are unsure, though with Republicans deeply concerned about attracting Latino voters â€" Mr. Obama last year won 70 percent of their votes â€" it is seen as the major element of the president’s second-term agenda that has the best prospects.

The Senate group’s push for an immigration overhaul was also being greeted on Sunday as an example of the sort of productive bipartisan cooperation that has become exceedingly rare in Washington.

“The eight of us have met in the middle, and I think that’s where the American people are,” Mr. Schumer said. He had only praise for Mr. Rubio, whom he called “a tremendous asset here.”

Even Karl Rove, the former political adviser to President George W. Bush who is known as a hard-nosed partisan strategist, welcomed the cooperation on immigration.

“The Democrats and Republicans here have tried to cobble together a bill that is thoughtful, sensitive, tough, and with an eye toward getting something done,” Mr. Rove said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Whatever the outcome, he said, it showed leadership on Mr. Rubio’s part, adding that in 2016, “I think it helps him.”