Last night in the Iowa Caucuses, Marco Rubio came in a surprisingly strong third place in the Republican contest to be the Party’s nominee for President. He almost edged out national front runner "The Donald" for second place (Trump 24%, Rubio 23%).

THE RESUME: Marco Rubio is a republican, US senator from Florida, and began his political career as a campaigner for Bob Dole in 1996The first Cuban-American House speaker in Florida’s history, and a political mentee of Jeb Bush, Rubio is the youngest of the presidential candidates at 43. 

Fun fact: Rubio gained Buzzfeed-level recognition for his awkward, candid water swig during his rebuttal of Obama’s State of the Union in 2013. 

via GIPHY

Viral fame aside, where does this man stand on the issues global citizens care about?

Refugees and immigration

“We need more welders and less philosophers”

Marco Rubio was part of the “Gang of 8” who drafted the 2013 immigration reform: a proposal that outlined a five-year path to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants, the draft included revamping visa progress and "increasing the number of visas given to foreigners with advanced degrees”.

Rubio’s two step plan for immigration first includes a border secured with a wall, and an entry/exit tracking system, equipped with a mandatory e-verify tracking system to determine whether a person overstayed their visa. Second, he plans to modernize the legal immigration system, by determining whether an immigrant can economically contribute to the US as a key deciding factor. His position on a legal path to citizenship separates him from many of his Republican colleagues, most notably Ted Cruz and Donald Trump who don’t support a path to citizenship.

On refugees he is also very different than many of his competitors for the Republican nomination for President. 

In November of last year, Rubio proposed a new plan to help President Obama resettle refugees in the United States. His plan outlines resettling the oldest and youngest refugees in the United States. Orphaned and widowed refugees would also be included. A risky move, especially considering 65% of conservative voters (who are overwhelmingly Republican) want NO refugees to enter the US.

Foreign aid and national security

“The United States has to be more careful about how we spend foreign aid...if it's done right, it spreads America's influence around the world in a positive way”

Rubio states that his foreign policy stance “consists of three pillars”

1) American strength: increase military spending and extend section 215 of the Patriot Act (increased intelligence surveillance).

2) American Prosperity: complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

3) American Values: give aid to countries wanting a democracy 

Rubio has called for stiffer sanctions for Iran, calling it a place “where instability spreads and tyrants flourish” and plans to revoke Obama’s nuclear deal . He is also a major supporter of Israel. He supports fighting efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state, defends Israel’s efforts to combat terrorism, and wants to strengthen the US-Israel Alliance and Israel’s Self Defenseforces. 

Rubio defines International aid to as providing assistance to countries who are in need of arms and intelligence support.

For Ukraine, Rubio plans to take action against Russian influence, by arming the Ukraine with military assistance and intelligence sharing. Rubio would cut off diplomatic engagements with Moscow not related to solving the Ukraine crisis. He cites that he wants to “protect Europe from further Russian aggression.” Which to some ears sounds like a war in the making.

On Syria, Rubio’s plan is to not cooperate with Russia on the peace process until Syrian President Assad is removed. He wants to use a combination of air strikes and the US Special Forces and intelligence teams to remove ISIS from the region as well.

Climate Change

"I'm a political leader and my job as a policymaker is to act in the common good. And I do believe it's in the common good to protect our environment."

Rubio, back in October came out in support of the Pope’s position on climate change. He remarked that Pope Francis “reminds us of our obligation to be good caretakers of the planet.” 

Rubio’s claims that he wants to protect our environment. His energy platforms seems to state otherwise. If elected he plans on to rewrite Obama’s offshore drilling pan, immediately approve the Keystone XL Pipeline and expedite approval of American Natural Gas Exports.

Image: Gage Skidmore

There you go, that’s Marco Rubio. It will be interesting to see if his Iowa performance reshapes the race to be the Republican nominee for President. 

TopicsCitizenshipUSProfileNorth AmericaMarco RubioUS Presidential Election

Editorial

Demand Equity

Marco Rubio came in a surprisingly strong 3rd in Iowa Republican Primary, where he stands on Global Citizen issues you care about

By Katherine Curtiss