WATCH: Accepting everyone who wants to come to the U.S. is ‘absurd,’ Rubio says

Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced questions from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday about the Trump administration’s resettlement program for white South Africans, which the administration argues have been targeted on the grounds of racial discrimination in their country.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., noted that the U.S. has had special programs to admit people facing religious persecution and those escaping Communism – but never a program for Africans, including during the time of apartheid in South Africa. He asked Rubio if the U.S. should apply the law evenly.

“Our foreign policy doesn't require evenhandedness,” Rubio said. “It requires prioritizing the interests of the United States.”

Kaine noted that the law states refugees are entitled to enter the country if they have a well-justified fear of persecution. “So can you have a different standard based upon the color of somebody's skin?” he asked “Would that be acceptable?”

Rubio shot back: “I'm not the one arguing that. Apparently, you are because you don't like the fact that they're white and that's why they’re coming.”

After some back-and-forth between the two, Rubio expressed his views about U.S. immigration policy.

“Our immigration policy should be based on the national interest of the United States. Period. End of story,” Rubio said. “If there is a subset of people that are easier to vet, who we have a better understanding of who they are and what they're going to do when they come here, they're going to receive preference, no doubt about it.”

Rubio noted the “heartbreaking” stories of millions of people seeking entry into the United States, and also said the nation – like other countries globally – cannot take them all in. He called the notion that the U.S. has to accept everyone “absurd.”

“So you have to have a process of deciding who do you prioritize, who do you allow in,” he said. “We do it in our immigration system now under our current laws. Unfortunately, it's primarily based on family connection and not on what they're going to contribute to the society from a merit standpoint. That should be changed, but that will require statutory changes.”

The administration accepted nearly 60 white Afrikaners into the United States earlier this month, fast-tracking their applications for resettlement. The White House has called a recently enacted South African law that redistributes unused land to the state racist and said the country’s government is persecuting the white minority.

The Trump administration resettled the Afrikaners after it previously suspended the U.S. refugee resettlement program, leaving thousands of approved refugees worldwide stranded.

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