Marco Rubio hit with birther controversy over parents' citizenship

Updated
The 'Birthers' Just Found A New Target: Marco Rubio
The 'Birthers' Just Found A New Target: Marco Rubio


Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio is facing a new controversy as opponents allege he is legally unable to serve as president.

The issue at hand -- as Ted Cruz has learned well -- is over whether Rubio can be consider a "natural born citizen."

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Rubio's lawyers are in court this week fighting claims he's not eligible because his parents weren't U.S. citizens until four years after his birth. The lawsuit claims that means he is ineligible to run under Article 2 of the Constitution.

Rubio's citizenship has been contested before, when the question popped up in the 2012 election after rumors swirled that Republican candidate Mitt Romney might tap Rubio as a potential running mate.

The argument over what a "natural born citizen" actually means has been going on for years, and the only group who could actually define it, the Supreme Court, has never done so.

See more photos of Marco Rubio on the campaign trail below:



Fellow GOP hopeful Ted Cruz has been facing scrutiny over this issue most recently. Cruz was born in Canada, but claims his "natural born" citizenship through his mother, who was an American at the time of his birth.




When it comes to Rubio, it's a bit easier to determine. He was born in Florida and no matter who his parents were at the time of his birth, thanks to the 14th Amendment, which created "birthright citizenship," he'd be considered a "natural born citizen."


Rubio's lawyers have asked a judge to throw out the case, noting that under the logic of the suit, "at least six Presidents of the United States were not natural born citizens and were therefore ineligible for that office."

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