Except cruz was explicitly against deportations in 2013.
“Cruz also noted that he had not called for deportation or, as Mitt Romney famously advocated, self-deportation.”
Cruz has the same policy as W. Bush, no deportations, and remember W. Bush was supposedly against amnesty too.
You are generalizing whereas Cruz has a very specific plan that will work. He’s outlined it often.
If you were interested in facts, you could find it on his site.
It might be glorious to hear Trump shout and scream down with illegal immigrants but he has no plan.