As a presidential candidate in 2016, Marco Rubio defended the conventional understanding of birthright citizenship, which contradicts the view embraced by the administration he currently serves as secretary of state. The contrast is especially striking because Rubio is one of the defendants in federal lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump's attempt to restrict birthright citizenship by executive decree.
When New York Times reporter Adam Liptak noted those points this week, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said it was "absurd" that the paper was "wasting time digging around for decade-old made-up stories." Yet Rubio's history on this issue is relevant to the birthright citizenship debate because it illustrates the clash between Trump's idiosyncratic reading of the 14th Amendment and a longstanding, bipartisan consensus about its meaning.
The 14th Amendment says "all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" are "citizens of the United States." An executive order that Trump issued on his first day in office nevertheless purported to exclude U.S.-born children from citizenship when neither parent is a citizen or legal permanent resident.
