Rubio, Cruz spar over their immigration reform records
As immigration reform becomes a hot-topic on the 2016 campaign trail, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are fighting over who had the most consistent and conservative record.
Rubio, who has been gradually climbing in the polls, has come under fire for reversing his position on the 2013 Gang of Eight immigration reform bill -- of which he was a sponsor -- that would have provided a path to citizenship for people living in the U.S. illegally.
While the bipartisan bill passed in the Senate, House Republicans refused to take up the legislation and Rubio later acknowledged that it can't be done comprehensively.
On Thursday, Cruz went on "The Laura Ingraham Show" and said Rubio opposed Cruz's amendments to the bill that focused on border security enforcement, restricting benefits to illegal immigrants and preventing a path to citizenship to those who are granted legal status.
"He opposed every single one of them. Every single amendment," Cruz said.
"First of all, this is what politicians do," he added about Rubio's change of heart. "They talk. And, specifically, they say what they think they need to say to get elected. I mean, honestly, we shouldn't be surprised. Marco Rubio wouldn't be the only politician to change his mind about something."
In South Carolina Thursday, Rubio shot back at Cruz, telling reporters that his rival has been "a supporter of legalizing people that are in this country illegally," according to CNN, and that their records are actually quite similar.
Rubio's campaign also released several press releases Thursday that took aim at Cruz's record on immigration reform, with one called "Senator Cruz's "Remarkably Clear" Record on Immigration."
The campaign Cruz's amendments to the bill and resurfaced a June 2013 interview Cruz did with NPR in which he said "the 11 million who are here illegally would be granted legal status" and "would be eligible for permanent legal residency."
Cruz, meanwhile, has taken a much tougher approach to immigration reform and has modified his position on increasing the number of H-1B visas, which allows U.S. employers to recruit and employ foreign workers. He now says the program should be reformed to prevent abuses, according to The New York Times.
At the fourth Republican debate on Tuesday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Cruz framed illegal immigration as an economic issue.
"Then, we would see stories about the economic calamity that is befalling our nation," he said. "And, I will say for those of us who believe people 'ought to come to this country legally, and we should enforce the law, we're tired of being told it's anti-immigrant. It's offensive."
Both Cruz's father and Rubio's parents immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba.
On Wednesday, Rubio told NPR that he would deport people who haven't been in the U.S. for too long in addition to criminals. But for people who have been living in the U.S. for a while, he said he would support a "very long path" to citizenship.
"I personally am open to that," he said. "That is not a majority position in my party, and it's not going to be easy to do, but I personally am open to it. ... If you add up the years, it is a lot of years before someone who is here illegally now could become a citizen."
He also said Wednesday he would end President Obama's 2012 program that delays deportations for people who came to the U.S. illegally as children. In April, he called the program "important" in an interview with Univision.