I was directly responding to the assertion that it was Trump who brought deportation into focus— that it wasn’t mentioned prior to Trump’s entry into the race in June. I chose to refute this with statements from Sen. Cruz and Mr. Trump showing that Cruz discussed ending deportation relief—even threatened to shut down the government (again!) to stop it, while Trump’s comments about deportation prior to this year have been to call it maniacal. In other words: Trump didn’t start or even re-start talk about deportation, it’s been part of the conservative lexicon all this time.
Oppsition to the Dream Act was not support for the status quo. By advocating the end of Sactuary city and DREAMer amnesty, Cruz was de facto arguing that they be deported.
As for Cruz’s comments regarding deportation, I’ll leave you with this quote: “The President cannot pick and choose which laws he enforces. The penalty for being here illegally is deportation. As President I will enforce the law.”
Thank you for your response. I need to grab some sleep now, but will reply to any further comments come morning. God Bless you and yours.
“By advocating the end of ... DREAMer amnesty, Cruz was de facto arguing that they be deported.”
That’s my point. It was a de facto support for deportation, not an explicit support for deportation. And while he said that a President must enforce existing law, he supported other attempts to change existing law as it pertained to illegal immigration and deportations.
It’s true that he opposed the Dream Act, but he supported a version of the Gang of 8 bill, that would have allowed for a process of legalization after border enforcement. His stance seems to be an acceptance of the Democrat meme, that large scale deportation of illegals hasn’t worked, because it’s impractical and therefore, the law needs to be changed to catch up with that reality.
That is different from Trump’s position since he started campaigning, which is support for deportation of all illegals in deed, not just in name. He has argued for that position as a matter of policy, not just as an obligation to follow the law. Trump has argued that deportation is the RIGHT policy. Cruz has said he will enforce the law but doesn’t appear to agrees with the law and has in fact, made attempts to change it.
Thanks for the discussion. It’s been enjoyable.