Beware a common mistake about Senator Marco Rubio cropping up again. For nearly a year now, we have heard that Rubio’s relief proposal for undocumented youth prevented you from becoming a citizen, i.e. “no path to citizenship.” Last year, some went even so far as to accuse Rubio of creating a “second-class citizenship” for undocumented youth or “taking the dream out of the DREAM Act.”

Marco Rubio destroyed that argument in an April interview with the Miami Herald. Under the Rubio plan, undocumented youth would not have a “special” pathway to citizenship, but “they would have to do it the regular way, just like anybody else would. But they’re not prohibited from accessing the citizenship process. [Emphasis mine] And the good news for them is that they get to wait in line while living in the U.S. legally. They don’t have to leave the country to do it.”

Unlike the current proposals for “comprehensive immigration reform” being discussed, Rubio’s plan would also have not included any penalties for legalization.

Actually, his comments display a more nuanced understanding of immigration law that most other senators avoid showing in public either because it is so easy to misconstrue or they are genuinely ignorant. Having an opportunity to inflict that vulnerability on a Republican for once, the “progressive” sphere pounced and hasn’t backed off since. As new immigration reform proposals get pushed out this year, be on the lookout for runaway talking points.