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I saw Cruz in Bettendorf, Iowa tonight. One of the questions of him was tips very one. He started by forcefully presenting his plan., as well outlined upthread. Pretty much anything anyone could want on the subject up to this point. But he stuck to his response of waiting until all that was done and only then having a conversation over what to do with whatever illegals are still left. He said by then the numbers involved should be much smaller. Some will go back for a visit and find their return blocked. Some will go back because they can't find work with a strong, enforced, e-verify. Some will go because freebies for illegals has ended (not discussed tonight, but in his plan.). The end result, to use Trump speak in my words, not Ted's, is that the illegals will have mostly left without any, inevitably controversial and divisive, government removal plan being needed for the 'good" illegals. They'll have left on their own AND they'll have paid for it themselves!

Cruz's point, a strategic one, was that the other side always tries to start the discussion with what to do with those illegals they can manage to present as 'good' ones, point out the current lack of consensus on that (Trump is at 30%+ in GOP primary, not, at least yet, a majority in the general,) then say that because we can't agree on e hard part argue that we can't do anything. Cruz strategizes to do the above parts, on which most clearly agree. If the wall, e-verify, etc. are working well, the sanctuaries are closed, the illegals with additional crimes are in jail or deported and of the rest self deport so that local and state budgets aren't being crunched, Americans aren't being competed out of jobs, and our culture isn't being displaced perhaps even the firmest Trump types would say 'good enough.' If problems remain then we can try to reach agreement on whatever else still needs doing to solve them. Without scaring the legal Hispanic voters into HRC's arms up front over about any general Hispanic round ups she'd confabulate.

I think it's much better strategy and more likely to get done than Trump's approach. And it leaves political good will for fixing all the other problems Washington created. Immigration is the biggest issue, but not the only essential one this time. Fix just it and we've lost. Cruz understands the whole scope of the problem and wants to fix it all. None of the others do.