In late March and early April 2026, a rumor spread online that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "Just because you're born on U.S. soil doesn't make you a citizen. Your parents must be U.S. citizens."
For example, one X user posted the claim on March 31 (archived), adding a suggestion that Rubio would be impacted if such a policy was enacted given his parents immigrated to the United States from Cuba before he was born. The X post read:
Marco Rubio: "Just because you're born on U.S. soil doesn't make you a citizen. Your parents must be U.S. citizens." Grok: "Marco Rubio was born in Miami in 1971. His parents became citizens in 1975. Rubio is a beneficiary of birthright citizenship."
Marco Rubio: "Just because you're born on U.S. soil doesn't make you a citizen. Your parents must be U.S. citizens."
Grok: "Marco Rubio was born in Miami in 1971. His parents became citizens in 1975. Rubio is a beneficiary of birthright citizenship."— Captain Obvious™️ (@TheFungi669) March 31, 2026
The alleged quote spread as Supreme Court justices discussed the Trump administration's bid to reshape and limit birthright citizenship.
Examples of the rumor were posted on Facebook (archived), Threads (archived), Instagram (archived), Bluesky (archived) and Reddit in March and April. Snopes readers also contacted us to investigate the claim's legitimacy.
We first used search engines such as DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo (archived, archived, archived) to find evidence that Rubio produced the words in question, either in writing or by mouth. If he had, journalists with reputable news outlets, such as The Associated Press or Reuters, would have widely reported on it and opponents would have likely pointed out how such a policy would impact him.
That was not the case. The searches uncovered no credible reporting of Rubio producing the quote in question about birthright citizenship.
Snopes contacted the Department of State, headed by Rubio, for comment and will update this story if we receive a response.
The X page that originated the rumor, @TheFungi669 (archived), has noted multiple times that it publishes parody content rather than legitimate news, including once directly addressing a Snopes report. The account no longer explicitly states that its content is parody. Previously, in 2023, the account's display name was "Captain Parody."
TheFungi669 first shared the rumor on March 31. There were no examples of the alleged quote posted on social media before then.
We contacted the X account for its response to the fact that some people mistook the satirical story as real news. We will update this story if we receive a response.
Rubio lawyer used birthright citizenship argument in 2016 lawsuit
At the time of this writing, whether Rubio's personally held views about birthright citizenship differ from the second Trump administration's suggested interpretation remains unclear.
In 2016, a lawyer for Rubio, who was then running for U.S. president, filed a motion in a lawsuit against him, arguing (Page 15) that it was:
... undisputed that Senator Rubio was born in the United States to immigrant parents. Under the United States Constitution, Senator Rubio is a natural born citizen who is eligible to serve as President of the United States.
According to immigration documents Politico reported, Rubio's parents came to the U.S. on immigrant visas in 1956 and became citizens in 1975. Rubio was born in 1971 to parents who, at that point, had legal status but not citizenship in the U.S., according to Politico's report.
Rubio's lawyer's 2016 argument leaned on a common, broad interpretation of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which states that, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
Trump's Jan. 20, 2025, executive order, that seeks to reshape and limit birthright citizenship, argues a narrow interpretation of who "All persons," as written in the 14th Amendment, applies to. The Supreme Court is reportedly due to hand down a decision on whether that executive order is constitutional in the summer of 2026.
Snopes has previously reported on other parody quotes from the @TheFungi669 X account.
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