Early life and education
Rubio's 1989 high school yearbook photo
Marco Antonio Rubio was born in Miami, Florida,[4] the second son and third child of Mario Rubio Reina[5] and Oriales (née Garcia) Rubio.[6] His parents were Cubans who immigrated to the United States in 1956 during the regime of Fulgencio Batista, two and a half years before Fidel Castro ascended to power after the Cuban Revolution.[7] His mother made at least four return trips to Cuba after Castro's takeover, including a month-long trip in 1961.[7] Neither of Rubio's parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of Rubio's birth,[8][9] but they applied for U.S. citizenship and were naturalized in 1975.[7] Some relatives of Rubio's were admitted to the U.S. as refugees.[10]
Rubio's maternal grandfather, Pedro Victor Garcia, immigrated to the U.S. legally in 1956, but returned to Cuba to find work in 1959.[11] When he fled communist Cuba and returned to the U.S. in 1962 without a visa,[12] he was detained as an undocumented immigrant and an immigration judge ordered him to be deported.[11][13] Immigration officials reversed their decision later that day, the deportation order was not enforced, and Garcia was given a legal status of "parolee" that allowed him to stay in the U.S.[14][15][16] Garcia re-applied for permanent resident status in 1966 following passage of the Cuban Adjustment Act, at which point his residency was approved.[14] Rubio enjoyed a close relationship with his grandfather during his childhood.[14]
