Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, praised immigrants while addressing the Michigan Republican party’s biennial leadership conference Saturday.
“What ties Americans together is we are all the children of those who risked everything,” Cruz said, after talking about his father Rafael Cruz’s immigration from Cuba.
“My whole life, my dad has been my hero. But you know what I find most incredible about his story? How commonplace it is,” said Cruz.
He continued: “My father escaped Cuba, came to America in 1957. When he came to this country, he was 18 years old; he couldn’t speak a word of English. … his first job was washing dishes, making 50 cents an hour. He worked seven days a week; he paid his way through school. My dad and my mom ended up forming a small business together.”
“Today my dad is a pastor; he travels the country [and] preaches the gospel,” said Cruz.
The Texas senator has been a vocal opponent of President Obama’s executive actions protecting 4 million illegal immigrants from deportation. During Wednesday’s GOP debates, Cruz accused “a majority” of the candidates of “previously and publicly [embracing] amnesty. I am the only candidate on this stage who has never supported amnesty.”
Cruz has also refused to criticize Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Trump is a vocal supporter of building a wall across the southern border, deporting all illegal immigrants, and revoking birthright citizenship.
Cruz concluded his remarks in Michigan with a warning from his father.
“When I was a kid, my dad used to say to me over and over again, when we faced oppression in Cuba, I had a place to flee to,” said Cruz. “If we lose our freedom here, where do we go?”
“That is why all of us are here today,” continued Cruz. “We are here today because we will not go quietly into the night; we will not give up on our children and grandchildren. We will stand and fight for freedom. We will stand and fight for the Constitution.”
