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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Facts on Rubio’s Immigration Record


In his latest fact-checking video, CNN’s Jake Tapper looks at the facts behind Ted Cruz’s attacks on Marco Rubio’s immigration record.

As part of our partnership with CNN’s “State of the Union,” Tapper reviews two claims we wrote about in “Cruz Distorts Rubio’s Immigration Stance.” We found that Cruz made overly broad accusations in both instances:

  • Cruz claims Rubio “advocates amnesty for criminals who are here illegally.” But Rubio supports deporting felons, and he has supported legislation that would bar legal status for those with three or more misdemeanors and those with a single serious misdemeanor, such as a domestic violence or drunk driving offense.
  • Cruz claims Rubio said “that he would not revoke President Obama’s illegal executive amnesty on the first day in office.” Rubio said he wouldn’t immediately revoke Obama’s 2012 order protecting so-called “Dreamers” — young people brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents. But Rubio has said he would revoke Obama’s 2014 executive action that protects as many as 5 million adults from deportation.

All of Tapper’s videos can be found on our “State of the Union with Jake Tapper” Web page.