In the midst of an endless barrage of extreme anti-immigrant positions from the Republican presidential field, Marco Rubio turned up the notch on his opposition to immigration reform—saying that if he is elected, he will not address immigration reforms such as legal status for undocumented immigrants or a pathway to citizenship. Appearing on Fox News yesterday, Rubio said that our country should wait more than a DECADE after we “modernize” our immigration system to have a “broader debate” about legal status including a pathway to citizenship for these immigrants.
The Republican presidential field is riddled with candidates who have taken extreme and out of touch positions on immigration reform.
Pathway to Citizenship
Marco Rubio
2010: Marco Rubio said a path to citizenship was “code for amnesty.” “As in previous debates, Rubio differed with Crist and Meek on immigration. He said the ‘pathway to citizenship’ favored by Meek and ‘earned path’ favored by Crist are ‘basically code for amnesty.’ Rubio said he doesn’t favor mass deportations of people in the country illegally. He said that after the U.S. secures its borders it can set up a system, and then people without documents ‘will be able to leave this country, return to their homeland, and try to reenter through our system that now functions, a system that makes sense.” [Palm Beach Post, 10/25/10]
2010: Marco Rubio said it was “unfair to create an alternate pathway for individuals who entered illegally.” “It was December 2012. The Senate gym. Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) was making the ask. ‘You ought to be a part of this,’ Durbin told Rubio (R-Fla.), as Rubio rode a stationary bike. Durbin and six other senators wanted to rewrite U.S. immigration laws. In the process, they wanted to give illegal immigrants a way to become legal residents and — eventually — citizens. Just two years earlier, Rubio had been against doing that. ‘It is unfair,’ he had said, as a tea party candidate for Senate, ‘to create an alternative pathway for individuals who entered illegally.’” [Washington Post, 4/24/15]
2013: Marco Rubio: “What I’ve never been for is a special pathway to citizenship.” “What I’ve never been for is a special pathway to citizenship. Let me just remind everybody there is no such thing as a path to citizenship. You can’t go from being an immigrant to a citizen. You have to go to get a green card first. What efforts (ph) in the past has done is they’ve awarded people green cards. It’s basically says if you’ve been here for x number of years, we’ll give you a green card. And then once you get a green card, in three to five years, you can apply for citizenship in three to five years. I’m not saying we should do that. On the contrary, I’m saying that all we do is we allow people to earn, to basically apply for and if they qualify, receive a legal status. And then at some point in the future, when some time has elapsed and the security measures are in place, then the only thing people would get is the opportunity to apply for a green card. We wouldn’t award one, either. And then if they were to receive the green card, then of course they can apply for citizenship at some point in the future after that. That’s been my position. It’s not to have a special pathway to green card citizenship or anything else because it is unfair to the people that are doing the right way and it would incentivize illegal immigration in the future. That’s been my position all along. We’re not going do special pathways that discourage people from doing it the right way.” [The Lead with Jake Tapper, 3/19/13]
June 2015: Marco Rubio: “I do” support a pathway to citizenship. “Many conservatives — and, indeed, many people — have been confused about what, exactly, Marco Rubio’s position is on immigration now that he’s said he regrets his support for the failed Gang of Eight bill. In an interview with New Hampshire’s local ABC station on Friday, Rubio made clear that he remains a supporter of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. ‘I do,’ Rubio said, when asked if he supports a path to citizenship for those currently in the United States illegally. First, though, Rubio said lawmakers have to ‘prove to the American people that illegal immigration is under control,’ implement an e-verify system, and modernize our legal immigration system.” [National Review, 6/30/15]
September 2015: Marco Rubio ruled out a path to citizenship during his presidency. “Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio has effectively ruled out granting legal status to undocumented immigrants if he makes it to the White House, even for a second term. Pressed by conservative host Sean Hannity during a Monday night interview on Fox News, the Florida senator said he’s open to a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, but only a decade or more after passage of bills to secure the border and modernize the legal immigration system. ‘I don’t think it’s a decision you have to make on the front end. The first two things you have to do is stop illegal immigration, then second you have to modernize our legal immigration system, and then third you can have a debate about how to even legalize people to begin with,’ Rubio said. ‘And then ultimately in 10 or 12 years you could have a broader debate about how has this worked out and should we allow some of them to apply for green cards and eventually citizenship.’” [Bloomberg, 9/22/15]
Donald Trump
Donald Trump opposed a pathway to citizenship. “Trump said Wednesday in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash that as president he would deport all undocumented immigrants and then allow the ‘good ones’ to reenter the country through an ‘expedited process’ and live in the U.S. legally, though not as citizens. ‘Legal status,’ Trump suggested. ‘We got to move ‘em out, we’re going to move ‘em back in if they’re really good people.’” [CNN, 7/30/15]
Donald Trump on undocumented immigrants: “They have to go.” “Donald Trump would reverse President Obama’s executive orders on immigration and deport all undocumented immigrants from the U.S. as president, he said in an exclusive interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd. ‘We’re going to keep the families together, but they have to go,’ he said in the interview, which aired in full on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ Sunday. Pressed on what he’d do if the immigrants in question had nowhere to return to, Trump reiterated: ‘They have to go.’ ‘We will work with them. They have to go. Chuck, we either have a country, or we don’t have a country,’ he said.” [NBC News, 8/16/15]
Ben Carson
Ben Carson opposed a pathway to citizenship. “People already here illegally could apply for guest-worker status from outside of the country. This means they would have to leave first. They should in no way be rewarded for having broken our laws, but if they are wise, they will arrange with their employer before they leave to immediately offer them a legal job as soon as their application is received.” [Ben Carson, National Review, 11/12/14]
Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush, when asked if he supported a pathway to citizenship: “No.” “During an interview Wednesday with the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, Mr. Bush was asked whether he supported a pathway to full citizenship. He replied, ‘No.’ ‘What do we do with the 11 million people here? I think the answer is earned legal status,’ he said.” [Washington Times, 7/8/15]
Jeb Bush reversed from his past support for a pathway to citizenship. “In an apparent reversal from his past statements, former Florida Republican Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday that his immigration reform plan would ‘fall short’ of offering a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants living in the United States — a key provision being put forward by the bipartisan group leading reform efforts on Capitol Hill.” [NBC’s First Read, 3/4/15]
Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz: “I think a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally is profoundly unfair.” “Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said Sunday that a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants would be unfair to those who have legally immigrated to the United States. ‘I think a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally is profoundly unfair to the millions of legal immigrants who followed the rules,’ Cruz said during an interview for ABC’s ‘This Week.’ Cruz added that he does not think a bill with such a path can pass the Republican-controlled House.” [Washington Post, 7/21/13]
Ted Cruz sponsored an amendment that would prevent undocumented immigrants from gaining citizenship. “Cruz 1322: Ensure that illegal immigrants who are given legal status under this bill are not given a path to citizenship. Providing a path to citizenship undermines the rule of law and is an insult to the millions who have immigrated to the U.S. legally. This Amendment prevents those currently here illegally who are offered legal status under this Act from obtaining citizenship.” [Press Release, Office of Senator Cruz, 6/19/13]
Carly Fiorina
Carly Fiorina opposed a path to citizenship. “If Carly Fiorina becomes president, the immigrants currently in the country illegally would face an additional hurdle in their quest for U.S. citizenship. During a wide-ranging interview with Yahoo’s Katie Couric, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO was asked if she favored providing a path to citizenship for the roughly 11 million immigrants in the country illegally. ‘I do not. Not for those who came here illegally and who have stayed here illegally,’ said Fiorina, who announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination earlier in the day.” [Bloomberg, 5/4/15]
Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee on immigration: “If you’re rewarding people who play outside the rules, and punish people who live within the rules, pretty soon nobody is going to play by the rules.” “In April, during the lead up to the launch of his presidential bid, Mike Huckabee’s political action committee released a web ad on immigration. The ad features a farmer from Texas, who warns that an open border has let in ‘the drug runners, the terrorists, the human traffickers.’ In the video, Huckabee says, ‘We’ve got to repeal Obama’s unconstitutional executive orders, oppose amnesty and secure the border. You don’t punish people for living by the rules. If you’re rewarding people who play outside the rules, and punish people who live within the rules, pretty soon nobody is going to play by the rules.’” [Buzzfeed, 7/28/15]
Chris Christie
Chris Christie: “This path to citizenship stuff is garbage.” ”New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said on Tuesday the idea of granting undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship — one he supported in 2010 — ‘is garbage.’ Instead, the 2016 candidate said at a campaign stop in New Hampshire, cracking down on businesses that hire immigrants who are here illegally is the best way to solve the problem. ‘I met lots of undocumented folks in my state over the course of my time as governor, I can tell you not one of them has ever said to me that they had come here to vote. This path to citizenship stuff is garbage,’ Christie said. ‘That’s not why they’re coming. They’re coming to work and support their family.’” [Talking Points Memo, 8/4/15]
Chris Christie said providing a pathway to citizenship was “an extreme way to go.” “Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) is rejecting the idea of providing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants as ‘extreme,’ reversing his stance ahead of a likely bid for president. ‘That’s an extreme way to go,’ Christie said Monday night in an interview on Fox News’s ‘The Kelly File.’ ‘I don’t believe that’s the way to go and I don’t believe that’s where the American people are.’” [The Hill, 3/19/15]
Rand Paul
Rand Paul introduced an amendment to remove a pathway to citizenship from immigration reform. “Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced an amendment Thursday to the Senate immigration bill that would effectively strip the bill’s path to citizenship and require illegal immigrants to apply through regular channels. The ‘No New Pathway to Citizenship Act’ amendment would allow illegal immigrants to remain in the United States as Registered Provisional Immigrants — a new work visa category — but force them to apply as though they were still in their home country.” [Washington Post, 6/20/13]
Rick Santorum
Rick Santorum opposed a path to citizenship. “Along with Cruz, Rick Santorum is a strident opponent of a general pathway to citizenship. ‘The idea that there are Republicans in Washington, D.C., who are going to say, ‘Well, the rule of law isn’t that important, the idea of people coming into this country who have done so illegally and we’re going to basically treat them the same as people who came here legally,’ is just not going to go over well in a Republican primary,’ Santorum told Fox’s Andrea Tantaros in 2013.” [National Journal, 2/23/15]
Birthright Citizenship
Donald Trump
Donald Trump made ending birthright citizenship a pillar of his immigration plan, calling it “the biggest magnet for illegal immigration.” “End birthright citizenship. This remains the biggest magnet for illegal immigration. By a 2:1 margin, voters say it’s the wrong policy, including Harry Reid who said ‘no sane country’ would give automatic citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.” [“Immigration Reform That Will Make America Great Again,” accessed 8/20/15]
Donald Trump: “I’ll use the word anchor baby.” REPORTER: Anchor baby, that’s an offensive term, people find that hurtful TRUMP: You mean it’s not political correct and yet everybody uses it? REPORTER: Look it up in the dictionary, it’s offensive. TRUMP: Give me a different term, give me a different term. What else would you like to say. REPORTER: A child, an American born child of an undocumented immigrant. TRUMP: You want me to say that, okay, I use the word anchor baby. Excuse me, I’ll use the word anchor baby.” [ABC News, 8/19/15]
Donald Trump: “Some four million anchor babies are now officially U.S. citizens. This has to stop.” “Some four million anchor babies are now officially U.S. citizens. This has to stop. The only other major country in the world that issues citizenship based on where one’s mother delivers her child is Canada. The rest of the world bases citizenship on who the kid’s parents are, which is of course the only sane standard.” [Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again, pg. 141, 2011]
Ben Carson
Ben Carson on the term “anchor babies” and birthright citizenship: “It doesn’t make any sense to me that people could come in here, have a baby and that baby becomes an American citizen.” “The neurosurgeon outlined his views on the topic at a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday. ‘I know the 14th Amendment has brought up recently, about anchor babies—and it doesn’t make any sense to me that people could come in here, have a baby and that baby becomes an American citizen. There are many countries in the world where they simply have recognized that and don’t allow that to occur,’ Carson said.” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]
Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush called American citizens born to undocumented immigrants “anchor babies.” “Jeb Bush doesn’t want birthright citizenship to go away, but he is calling for stronger enforcement for people who abuse it. ‘If there’s abuse, if people are bringing — pregnant women are coming in to have babies simply because they can do it, then there ought to be greater enforcement,’ Bush said on Bill Bennett’s conservative radio show, ‘Morning in America’ Wednesday. ‘That’s [the] legitimate side of this. Better enforcement so that you don’t have these, you know, ‘anchor babies’, as they’re described, coming into the country.’ ‘Anchor babies’ is a derogatory term used to describe children who are born in the United States to undocumented parents.” [Politico, 8/19/15]
Jeb Bush on the term “anchor babies”: “You give me a better term and I’ll use it.” “A feistier, combative Jeb Bush said Thursday that he doesn’t believe the term ‘anchor babies’ is offensive and blamed Democrats for perpetuating the idea that it’s a loaded term. In one of his most aggressive exchanges with reporters to date, Bush dismissed suggestions that the two-word term deemed offensive by many Hispanics and denounced by Democrats is improper. ‘Do you have a better term? You give me a better term and I’ll use it,’ he snapped at a reporter who asked him.” [Washington Post, 8/20/15]
Jeb Bush on the term “anchor babies”: “Frankly it’s more related to Asian people.” “Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush attempted to clarify his remarks about ‘anchor babies’ during a stop near the U.S. border with Mexico on Monday, saying Asian immigrants are really more of the problem. When asked if he thought his repeated use of the term ‘anchor babies’ – a derogatory term for children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrant parents – Bush said: ‘What I was talking about was the specific case of fraud being committed where there’s organized efforts, and frankly, it’s more related to Asian people coming into our country and having children in that organized effort.’” [Talking Points Memo, 8/24/15]
Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz said the Constitution should “absolutely” be changed to end birthright citizenship. “When the Texas senator was asked Wednesday on the Michael Medved show if the 14th Amendment should be changed, Cruz answered ‘absolutely.’ ‘We should end granting automatic birthright citizenship to the children of those who are here illegally,’ he said.” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio said he was “open to exploring ways” to limit birthright citizenship in the United States. “Marco Rubio, who is running for president thanks to birthright citizenship, says he is open to the idea of ending it for children who were born in the United States to foreign parents. ‘I’m not in favor of repealing the 14th Amendment,’ Rubio said during a Tuesday news conference at the rain-soaked Iowa State Fair. ‘But I am open to exploring ways of not allowing people who are coming here deliberately for that purpose to acquire citizenship.’” [National Journal, 8/18/15]
Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee, according to his top immigration surrogate, proposed amending the Constitution to prevent children of undocumented immigrants from automatically receiving U.S. citizenship. “Mike Huckabee wants to amend the Constitution to prevent children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens from automatically becoming American citizens, according to his top immigration surrogate — a radical step no other major presidential candidate has embraced. Mr. Huckabee, who won last week’s Republican Iowa caucuses, promised Minuteman Project founder James Gilchrist that he would force a test case to the Supreme Court to challenge birthright citizenship, and would push Congress to pass a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to remove any doubt.” [Washington Times, 1/8/08]
Chris Christie
Chris Christie: Birthright citizenship “may have made sense at some point in our history, right now, we need to relook at all that.” “Christie, speaking on Aug. 12—about a week before Trump’s proposal —was asked about birthright citizenship during a radio appearance with conservative host Laura Ingraham and said the matter deserves another look. ‘I think all this stuff needs to be reexamined in light of the current circumstances,’ New Jersey’s governor said. ‘The fact is the American immigration system is not working right now, it’s not working for the American people, it’s not working for our economy, and all these things need to be reexamined in light of the current circumstances. And while [birthright citizenship] may have made sense at some point in our history, right now, we need to relook at all that. And it has to be relooked at in respect to the rule of law.’” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]
Rand Paul
Rand Paul introduced legislation to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants. “In 2011, the Kentucky senator joined forces with Louisiana Senator David Vitter to introduce a resolution to ensure ‘a person born in the United States to illegal aliens does not automatically gain citizenship.’ ‘Citizenship is a privilege, and only those who respect our immigration laws should be allowed to enjoy its benefits,’ Paul said at the time. ‘This legislation makes it necessary that everyone follow the rules, and goes through the same process to become a U.S. citizen.’” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]
Rick Santorum
Rick Santorum: “Enticements to illegal immigration, such as birthright citizenship, should be ended.” “Other enticements to illegal immigration, such as birthright citizenship, should be ended. Only children born on American soil where at least one parent is a citizen or resident aliens is automatically a U.S. citizen. Of developed countries other than the United States, only Canada has birthright citizenship.” [Rick Santorum op-ed, Breitbart, 5/6/15]
Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal said he was “happy” to use the term “anchor baby” and that “folks today are too easily offended.” “HEMMER: But, you’ll use anchor baby, right, as a phrase? JINDAL: Yeah look, I think folks today are too easily offended. They are too politically correct. The real issue here is, yeah I’m happy to use the term, but the reality is, the real issue here is when you secure our border. The bigger frustration from the American people. It doesn’t seem to matter who is in charge in D.C. secure the borders. Stop illegal immigration.” [Fox News, 8/20/15]
Bobby Jindal supported ending birthright citizenship in the United States. “Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has joined front-running GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump in calling for an end to automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to illegal immigrants. ‘We need to end birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants,’ Jindal tweeted Monday night, a day after Trump offered a tough plan to combat what he calls the negative economic consequences of illegal immigration. Jindal is also running for president, though he remains near the bottom of the 17-person GOP field.” [Times-Picayune, 8/18/15]
Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Graham: “I think it’s a bad practice to give citizenship based on birth.” “Graham, one of Trump’s most outspoken critics, took a more nuanced approach on Monday to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. ‘I don’t mind changing the law,’ the South Carolina senator said. ‘I think it’s a bad practice to give citizenship based on birth. We have evidence of people buying tourist visas for the express purpose of coming over here and having a child as birth tourism. I don’t think that’s a good idea. But that’s not going to happen until we fix a broken immigration system.’” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]
Lindsay Graham: “We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child’s automatically not a citizen.” “Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says that the United States should end its policy of guaranteeing citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants as ensured by the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The South Carolina Senator defined his stance on the immigration issue on Wednesday in an interview with Fox News host Greta Van Susteren. ‘Birthright citizenship I think is a mistake,’ explained Graham. ‘We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child’s automatically not a citizen.’” [Huffington Post, 7/29/10]