CNN
By Theodore Schleifer
December 16, 2015
Ted
Cruz on Tuesday significantly toughened his position on how to deal
with undocumented immigrants currently in the United States, closing the
door on legalizing them
and instead suggesting that he would deport them.
Cruz
has vocally opposed a path to citizenship for the millions of
undocumented immigrants in the United States, but he has taken pains
during his presidential campaign
to not rule out a path to legal status, often telling reporters that he
will not discuss what to do with them until the southern border is
secured.
But in Tuesday night's CNN debate, Cruz went further than he ever has before.
"I
have never supported legalization, and I do not intend to support
legalization," the Texas senator said on the debate stage after rival
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio encouraged
the moderators to pose that question again to Cruz.
Rick Tyler, a campaign spokesman, confirmed that Cruz unequivocally now does not support a path to legalization.
Although
Cruz has pushed back on Rubio's claim that the Texas senator supported a
path to legal status during the 2013 immigration fights in Congress,
Cruz has never before
stated that he did not plan to support a path to legal status moving
forward. Some have raised the prospect of Cruz eventually coming out in
support of legal status in a general election, during which that
position would be more politically appealing.
In
his immigration plan rolled out last month that his campaign called
comprehensive, Cruz did not address what he would do with the
undocumented immigrants already here,
declining to specify whether he would deport them or grant them legal
status.
And
speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper after the debate, Cruz even indicated he
would back deporting those who came here illegally -- another proposal
he has usually rebuffed.
"I
would enforce the law," Cruz said, explaining that he would first
deport criminals without proper papers. "Federal immigration law
provides that if someone is here
illegally and is apprehended, that they should be sent back to their
home country."
Cruz
has recently begun stressing that he believes the number of
undocumented immigrants would decrease with strict border enforcement.
But asked last month in Iowa how
he squared that "comprehensiveness" with his lack of a comment about
those already here, the Texan said no one was interested in that
question beyond the media.
"The
only people I'm under fire from are reporters who want to throw rocks,"
Cruz said in Harlan. "Once we've demonstrated that we can solve the
problem, then we can have
a conversation about what to do about whatever people remain
illegally."
The
Rubio campaign has argued that Cruz previously supported legalization
during the debate over the Gang of Eight bill, which Rubio championed in
the Senate. Cruz introduced
an amendment that allowed for legal status that he said was meant to
show that the comprehensive immigration bill was really about
citizenship rather than a true representation of what he believes.
The Rubio campaign disagrees, citing it as evidence that their positions aren't that different.
"He
has attempted to muddy the waters," Cruz said on the stage. "Where
there was a battle over amnesty and some chose, like Sen. Rubio to stand
with Barack Obama and Chuck
Schumer and support a massive amnesty plan. Others chose to stand with
Jeff Sessions and Steve King and the American people and secure the
border."
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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