"As speculation builds that presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney has his eye on the charismatic 40-year-old Cuban-American as a possible running mate, political observers want to learn everything they can about him. Some of what we're learning could be embarrassing to Rubio, like the tidbit that surfaced this week about his maternal grandfather. The story appears in a forthcoming and unauthorized biography of the senator by Manuel Roig-Franzia of the Washington Post.
Rubio was born to Cuban exiles in Miami in 1971, and so he's automatically a U.S. citizen. But, according to excerpts from the book, which is due out in June, his grandfather, Pedro Victor Garcia, entered the United States without a visa in 1962 and spent the next few years in legal limbo while pleading for leniency from U.S. immigration officials. Finally, Garcia was ordered to leave the United States. Normally, this kind of family history would hardly be worth mentioning. And, while I expect that some right-wing talk show hosts will suggest that the reason the media is mentioning it now is to try to sour conservatives on Rubio, that's really not what's going on here. Conservatives aren't likely to hold Rubio accountable for the actions of his grandfather.
This story is important because it drives a wedge between Rubio and the voters he is supposed to be able to deliver to the Republican Party. When you're a Cuban-American politician who is being put forth by your party to help get votes from Latino voters -- the majority of whom are Mexican or Mexican-American -- things can get complicated.
When it comes to immigrating to the United States, Cubans get preferred status. Thanks to the Cuban Adjustment Act, which was enacted in 1966 -- or four years after Rubio's grandfather came to the United States -- Cuban refugees who flee the Island and reach the U.S. shoreline have a clear path to legal residency and eventual citizenship."
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/26/opinion/navarrette-rubio-vp/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
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