Marco Rubio’s Evolution from Pro-Immigrant to the Fringe Right

14 JUN 2022

Marco Rubio’s Evolution from Pro-Immigrant to the Fringe Right

WASHINGTON, DC – Nearly a decade ago, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) once reached across the aisle advocating for immigration reform, a position held by a number of Republican leaders in the past such as President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain. It didn’t take long before he would distance himself from those efforts and gradually embrace the ideologies of the fringe right with the arrival of Donald Trump. While some would view his current presence in the Senate as more of a quiet, behind-the-scenes politician, a deeper look into his policy positions and rhetoric on immigration in social media and Florida’s media landscape paints a far different picture. Senator Rubio has become a consistent driver of anti-immigrant language and policies that echo his GOP colleagues’ — head of the NRSC Senator Rick Scott and Governor Ron DeSantis — divisive, xenophobic political content and actions.

The Republican playbook— weaponizing immigration as a means to defeat Democrats— has been at the core of many of the GOP candidates’ campaign strategy this year. Already, more than 850 anti-immigrant ads have been deployed by Republicans running for office across the country— 31 ads were by Florida GOP candidates. As noted by the Immigration Hub and America’s Voice, of those campaign ads, hundreds mirror and normalize tenets of the “Great Replacement Theory” (a racist ideology asserting that immigrants of color are coming to America in a scheme to “replace” white people and are aided and abetted by Jews), which was further elevated into the limelight after the Buffalo mass shooting:

• Over 100 different Republican ads employ the “invasion” language

• Over 100 different Republican ads fear-monger about “amnesty”, a term weaponized to have one believe immigrants will quickly become U.S. citizens and vote against white American interests

• Over 70 different ads employ both anti-immigrant themes and fears about election integrity  

2013-2020: Rubio’s Descent into Trump and the GOP’s Worldview on Immigration

Once a champion for bipartisan immigration reform, Senator Rubio soon walked-back his support for the 2013 immigration deal and disavowed himself from the Gang of Eight bill, calling a border security first approach “the only way forward.” This would become a turning point for the senator who would go on to obstruct immigration reform efforts and take a turn for the worse with Donald Trump’s arrival.

• In January 2016, Rubio released an ad declaring he opposed “amnesty” and shortly thereafter stated at an Iowa town hall that he “does not support amnesty.”

• In February 2016, Rubio surrendered to Donald Trump’s anti-immigration positions— promising to end DACA on day one of his potential presidency. 

• In January 2017, Rubio backed Trump’s idea to build a border wall along the southern border, stating it’s more important than other priorities.

• In June 2018, Rubio refused to stand up to Trump’s zero-tolerance policy, claiming there’s “always been an audience” for anti-immigrant sentiment.

• In July 2018, Rubio supported family separation, stating “we don’t have the capacity to hold families together.” 

• In 2020, Rubio stood with former President Trump, failing to support Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 323,000 Venezuelans, a major constituency in Florida, while instead supporting Trump’s memo to exclude undocumented immigrants from the U.S. Census.

2021-2022: Rubio Embraces the Radical Right Against Rep. Val Demings and Democrats

For months, the NRSC, headed by Sen. Rick Scott, and GOP politicians have been pushing the narrative of an “invasion” at the southern border. On Twitter alone, Senator Rubio and top-of-the-ticket Republicans running for office have generated over 236 tweets that employ the “invasion” theme.

• Obstructing instead of delivering immigration reform policies supported by his constituents: 

  • While the Biden administration was attempting to manage the border, Rubio blamed ‘radical left-wing activists’ for a humane and orderly approach at the border and laughed at the administration as he worked to block the president from using resources to manage the border. 

  • Rubio slammed Venezuelan constituents in Florida for being “more Democrat” than Venezuelan, instead of responding to their call to support the SECURE Act, which would provide longtime TPS holders a path to citizenship.

  • The Florida senator introduced various anti-immigrant bills seeking to extend Title 42 authority until 2025, which blocks Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitians and other migrants fleeing persecution from seeking asylum. Rubio’s role to maintain Title 42 stands as a major blow to Florida’s immigrant communities, which is home to millions of U.S. citizens and mix-status Venezuelan (more than 218,920), Cuban (approximately 1,532,516), Haitian (more than 400,000) and Central American families.

  • Rubio’s response to Gov. DeSantis blocking unaccompanied migrant children from reuniting with their families: Nada.

• Rubio’s 2022 campaign game plan: Flurry of online content hyping fear over immigrants to undermine President Biden, Rep. Val Demings and Democrats: Rubio has repeatedly attacked President Biden’s border approach with unfounded hyperboles over risking public safety due to “troves” of criminal migrants. He claimed the border is ‘overrun’ with ‘criminals and gang members,’ ‘deadly drugs’ and ‘illegal immigration.’ 

• Rubio deployed his first ad and a barrage of tweets aimed at Val Demings, littered with lies about open border policies, the invasion of ‘illegal immigrants,’ and supporting amnesty for ‘criminals and gang members.’ He sparred with Dr. Fauci over the CDC’s decision to revoke Title 42 despite the Biden administration’s comprehensive border plan to mitigate migration and crack down on drug-traffickers and human smugglers. 

• Echoing versions of the Great Replacement Theory, Rubio claimed that the Biden administration is ‘encouraging’ the border ‘crisis, forcing ICE to ‘catch and release’ migrants, and that ‘it will be too late to fix it’ under Democratic control.  

The Bottom-Line: Senator Rubio may be “low-key” to outsiders, but his dangerous evolution into the fringe right ignores even his own late mother’s advice: “Don’t mess with the immigrants, my son. Please, don’t mess with them. They’re human beings just like us, and they came for the same reasons we came. To work. To improve their lives. So please, don’t mess with them.”

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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.