Republican rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio sparred at length about the issue of immigration during Tuesday night’s GOP presidential debate. Backed into a rhetorical corner by Rubio, Cruz did not explicitly rule out legalizing illegal immigrants.
Cruz argued that during the Senate’s 2013 immigration fight, Rubio sided with President Obama and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., while Cruz worked with Iowa Rep. Steve King and Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Cruz also quipped that he would build a wall that works and get Donald Trump to pay for it.
Rubio took umbrage at Cruz’s attack and portrayed the two senators’ ideas as not diametrically opposed.
“As far as Ted’s record, I’m always puzzled by his attack on this issue,” Rubio said. “Ted you support legalizing people who are in this country illegally.”
“I understand that Marco wants to raise confusion,” Cruz replied. “It is not accurate what he just said, that I supported legalization. Indeed, I led the fight against his legalization and amnesty bill and you know there was one commentator that put it this way: For Marco to suggest our record’s the same is like suggesting the fireman and the arsonist have the same record because they’re both at the scene of the fire.”
Rubio later interjected as the two talked over each other.
“Does Ted Cruz rule out ever legalizing people that are in this country illegally now?” Rubio said. “Do you rule it out?”
“I have never supported legalization and I do not intend to support legalization,” Cruz said. “What you do is you enforce the law. I’ve laid out a very detailed immigration plan on my website.”
Cruz’s failure to explicitly rule out granting legal status to illegal immigrants prompted the Rubio campaign to blast out a response to reporters saying, “Senator Cruz supports a path to legalization for illegal immigrants.”
Rubio and Cruz are jockeying for position on the campaign trail, as the two routinely rank among the top four Republican candidates in several recent polls. Cruz ranks first in the Washington Examiner‘s newest GOP presidential power rankings, while Rubio ranks third.
