Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio talked about immigration reform during a campaign event in Iowa on Wednesday, claiming that no other candidate vying in the 2016 presidential election "understands immigration better than I do."

While campaigning in Sioux City, the Florida senator highlighted his immigrant roots, saying, "both of my parents were immigrants." The Republican candidate also noted that his wife's family also largely consists of immigrants. Rubio added that all of his neighbors "are immigrants" and that he grew up "in a community of immigrants."

"And I can tell you as the son of immigrants, raised and living in a community of immigrants, enforcing our immigration laws is not anti-immigrant," he said.

Back in 2013, Rubio was part of the "Gang of 8," a bipartisan group of senators that pushed to pass comprehensive immigration reform, (S. 744), which included a pathway to citizenship. However, following the launch of his presidential campaign, he adopted a different hardline stance on immigration that calls for building a fence on the U.S.-Mexican border and deporting immigrant families.

Instead of discussing his former push for an immigration overhaul at the event, Rubio emphasized the need to beef up border security and a tougher vetting process that would prevent terrorists from entering the country.

"It has truly become a national security issue, because we know that there are terrorist groups that are trying to exploit our immigration system, to bring people into this country to harm us," he told the crowd of 300 people at the downtown Holiday Inn, reports the Sioux City Journal.

According to him, the government should add 20,000 more border patrol officials on the Southern border, build a 700-mile wall and add more cameras and sensors.

He was joined at the event by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who praised his Republican colleague as one of the "foremost experts" when it comes to national security issues.

"A sovereign nation has the right to determine who comes, who goes, how long they stay and what investigation we put them through before we give them the privilege of coming here. You do not have a right to immigrate, it is a privilege that this country confers on other people," said Gowdy.