(CNN)Ted Cruz moved to a more aggressive deportation policy in an interview on Monday night, saying he would look for and deport undocumentedl immigrants using Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, marking a change from a January interview with CNN.
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Cruz has been moving right on the issue for months now, though he has always been considered strong on the issue.
Cruz has slowly shifted his position on deportations to The Full Trump – perhaps stung by the amount of support Trump has received from evangelicals and conservatives, and hoping to out-Trump Trump. Here’s a summary of the exchange, in which O’Reilly begins by asking Cruz to flush out his immigration enforcement policy. There are now an estimated 12 million people living in the USA illegally. Mr. Trump would look for them to get them out.
“You better believe it”, Cruz said. How do we enforce the law?
The toughening stance comes after a disappointing, if narrow, third place finish in SC on Saturday, with immigration hardliner Donald Trump strengthening his grip on the race.
“I don’t intend to send jackboots to knock on your door and every door in America. That’s not how we enforce the law for any crime”, Cruz said, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Cruz also joined a chorus of voices that call Trump’s plan impractical (some estimate it would cost 6 billion to carry out).
Trump says he would deport 11 million undocumented workers from the United States and would establish a “deportation force” for this objective. “Cruz has been very clear: people who are here illegally should be deported”.
“Unfortunately, those two individuals are doing so much to create that tension and that skepticism that those who maybe have never voted before or that are now becoming US citizens are leaning toward whoever the Democratic candidate would be”, Romero told the Associated Press this week.
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Donald Trump, who has never held elected office, is leading the Republican presidential primary field, despite the fact that his campaign has been marked by controversial statements, including with disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants and Muslims.
