WASHINGTON, DC—As Congressional Republicans inch closer and closer to a deal with Democrats that grants amnesty to illegal aliens, top conservatives are fighting back.
On Thursday, US Senator Ted Cruz (R–TX) outlined his opposition to a deal being circulated by Republican leadership that offers a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens brought to the country as children in exchange for $25 billion in funding for the border wall as well as an elimination of the visa lottery and a curbing of the chain migration system.
The proposal seems to have the support of President Donald Trump, but falls short of satisfying Congressional Democrats, who say it does not go far enough. At the same time, the proposal is drawing heat from conservatives, including Cruz for going too far.
“I do not believe we should be granting a path to citizenship to anybody here illegally,” Cruz told reporters. “Doing so is inconsistent with the promises we made to the men and women who elected us.”
“For some reason that to me is utterly inexplicable, we see Republicans falling all over themselves to gallop to the left of [former President] Obama in a way that is contrary to the promises made to the voters who elected us,” Cruz continued.
Cruz’s statements are a welcome sign to conservative activists across the nation who were beginning to question his relative silence on the issue in recent weeks. Though Cruz built his brand and launched an almost-successful presidential campaign by taking strong stances on issues and standing by them, he’s taken a softer tone since Trump’s inauguration.
Rather than hold the spotlight, Cruz has instead increased his work behind the scenes and still delivered on positive reforms for taxpayers—such as successfully tacking an amendment to the tax reform bill that allows parents and students to use 529 plans to pay for K-12 educational expenses.
But if Cruz has been one thing since he was elected in 2012, it has been consistent.
Indeed, his statement today matches remarks he made during his presidential campaign. When asked by a DACA recipient what he would do as president, he confirmed that he would support her deportation.
“I would note, if you’re a DACA recipient it means that you were brought here illegally, and violating the laws has consequences,” Cruz responded. “And one of the problems with our broken immigration system is that it is creating human tragedies and there are human tragedies when people break the law, but I can tell you what the law is in every country on earth.”
“If I illegally emigrate to England or Germany or France or China or Mexico, and they catch me, they will deport me,” he said. “That’s what every other country on Earth does, and there’s no reason that America’s laws should have less respect than the laws of every other country on Earth.”
“We should welcome people who come following the laws, but there are consequences for breaking the laws, and that is part of what makes America the nation that we are,” he added.
Cruz should be commended for his willingness to fight on the frontlines and maintain his promise to those who elected him. It was for that willingness that Texas voters sent him to Washington in 2012 and will vote to keep him there this November.
