Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign is opening a residence for volunteers in New Hampshire as it continues to build out its ground game in the early voting states.
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In Iowa, meanwhile, Rubio accused Cruz of trying to duck the issue – pointing to his amendment that would have replaced citizenship with legal status for undocumented immigrants. “He strongly supported legalizing people that were in this country illegally”.
Cruz has previously supported broadening legal immigration in some cases.
But Rubio isn’t letting up, saying Thursday that Cruz shouldn’t get a free pass on the amendment to grant legal status because of his explanation of legislative maneuvering.
“He’s been explicit about it. And now he says never, and he never did it”, Paul said. “That’s why I fought so hard to defeat President Obama and the Republican establishment’s Gang of 8 amnesty plan”, Cruz said in the direct-to-camera spot.
“I don’t think there’s any question that both Rubio and Cruz have been for a form of amnesty”.
Bush hopes to exploit the fact that many Republican voters don’t like Donald Trump, but it’s not yet clear what his plan is to deal with the fact that many Republican voters don’t like Jeb Bush, either.
Voters at a Cruz rally in Las Vegas rally on Thursday felt differently. Cruz authored an amendment during the 2013 battle that Rubio argues shows Cruz’s support for legalization, and Cruz spent most of a 20-minute interview with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren testily defending his past record. One of those would have supported legalization, but banned a pathway to citizenship.
At issue is an amendment Cruz pushed to a Rubio-backed immigration reform bill in 2013 that would have stripped out a portion of the measure to give undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship.
Cruz has called that a poison pill created to highlight Democrats’ hypocrisy by painting them as more interested in gaining votes than helping immigrants.
The Texas senator has portrayed Rubio’s decision to back the 2013 bill as motivated primarily by winning over top Republican moneymen, and on Friday he mocked that Rubio was enamored by the fame as well. Jeff Sessions, as well as Rush Limbaugh, defended Cruz on Thursday, saying he was against legalization and the “Gang of Eight” bill.
On Thursday, Rubio said Cruz’s use of the word “intend” was “crafty language” and that Cruz was only giving himself some “wiggle room” in a primary where voters are seeking candidates who are tough on illegal immigration.
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Cruz supporter and Las Vegas resident Bob Jacobsen, 85, linked illegal immigration to terrorism, noting that he and his son bought guns for the first time two days earlier to protect their family from violent extremists.
