Posted on 12/20/2015 7:38:45 AM PST by VinL
During a weekend campaign stop in south Alabama, Republican senator and presidential hopeful Ted Cruz said he had "three words" for people questioning whether the southern border can be secured: "Secretary Jeff Sessions."
"We are going to deport criminal illegal aliens, we are going to pass Kate's Law [mandatory minimum sentences for illegal immigrants who are deported but later return to the U.S.], we are going to end welfare benefits for those here illegally," Cruz told a raucous crowd of over 1,300 Alabamians. "For anyone who wonders, 'Can we really secure the border?' I've got three words for you: Secretary Jeff Sessions! You want to talk about a homeland security secretary who would go down and build the wall himself!"
Cruz is in the middle of a campaign swing through several southern states, seeking to lock up conservatives support in the southeast where many voters will head to the polls for the so called SEC Primary on March 1st.
What a Ted Cruz event looks like when conservatives unite. This was earlier today in Alabama. pic.twitter.com/3IywQ6U0sg Rick Tyler (@rickwtyler) December 19, 2015
Cruz’s record on immigration has been under attack in recent days after rival candidate Marco Rubio criticized him for offering an amendment during debate over the Gang of Eight immigration bill that would have granted legal status, but remove the possibility of citizenship, to individuals in the country illegally. Rubio said the amendment was proof that Cruz supported “legalizing people who are in this country illegally."
Cruz says now the amendment was meant as a "poison pill" to kill the whole package, or at the very least as a way to expose that what Democrats really wanted was not to “bring people out of the shadows,†as they often claimed, but rather to grant citizenship to millions of future Democratic voters. By removing citizenship from the equation, Cruz allies said he was exposing Democrats’ true motives.
The media have seized on the disagreement and pressed Cruz on the issue in numerous interviews over the past week, but Senator Sessions, whose credibility on the immigration issue is unquestioned among the conservative base, has repeatedly come to Cruz’s defense.
"One of the things you've been hearing about is criticism of Ted and what he did with regard to the massive immigration bill they tried to ram through in 2013,†Sessions told the crowd on Saturday. "Let me tell you, I was there every step of the way. Ted Cruz was on my side, he fought this legislation all the way through."
Thanks for taking the time to look that up, I was pretty sure that was the case.
Marko
If you are not in a position to hire or appoint someone depending on the outcome of an election, then the law doesn’t apply to you. It only applies to individuals running for elected office.
Sessions for Senate Majority Leader.
Close down DHS...what is CIA and FBI and Immigration for? We need more data sharing not organizations.
1300 in Alabama?
Trump got 30,000.
Alabama’s pretty conservative (not like Conservative-Talking-But-Leftist-Acting Mississippi). I’m pretty sure they’ll get another Conservative to take Secretary Session’s place.
Lets say Trump as an example.
He does not have to come out and say it. He can simply use the media to see for example, Palin, and he talking a lot about the DOE and getting her expertise on Oil.
Then Talking with lets say Duncan Hunter on Border walls. Do the same with all your picks. Keep talking to them exclusively. The public will associate the two.
The media will do all the legwork. They will right article after article linking the two. Trust me, I was in the Biz. And that violates nothing legal I am aware of.
That is fine, and it happens a lot. But when Cruz uses the name Sessions and a specific position in a public venue, it runs dangerously close to an indirect special consideration of a position.
It’s just something he, and all candidates, need to keep in mind.
Also, Freepers who encourage various candidates to name their cabinet, or supreme court nominees, or their choice of U.N. Ambassador need to realize that their candidates are cowards or un-thoughtful of those ideas, they just can’t say it because of this law.
“aren’t cowards” not “are cowards”. Ugh, really want that edit function that will never happen.
He alludes to Trumps wall again, never saying anything strong about it or even amnesty himself
No, Cruz is not a genius. He’s pandering to the crowd. Seriously, in Alabama, Senator Session’s state. Open your eyes.
Then with all due respect, why is apparently no one concerned with Donald Trump, who if I am not mistaken, didn’t just float the idea of I believe it was Carl Ichan as Treasury Secretary or some such thing, but allegedly offered him the job if elected. If they are not going after Trump for that, they won’t go after Cruz for this.
I am concerned about that. Candidates need to pay attention to the details of election law. It can really cause problems.
And as has been brought up, Cruz advocated for some of these things before Trump said Romney’s immigration policy was too mean spirited. I understand Trump made this his immediate plank and focus, but accuracy and acknowledging that it’s possible for someone to have some of the same positions and still be their own man doesn’t hurt. ;)
Nope, he said Carl Ichan called him and volunteered his services, not the same thing as Trump promising Carl a position.
Yes, we know. He is the second coming for emotional types, can do no wrong, will turn water into wine, and everyone else should drop out while he still might be gracious enough to offer them cabinet positions after clobbering Hillary a 450-88 electoral count. He is after all, as Ann Coulter put it, the blessed Donald Trump.
Okay, fair enough.
It s like that in Iowa and Cruz has a commanding lead.
Well apparently he should keep his mouth shut on even something like that- particularly if even any loophole can be used to go after him on it.
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