Republican senator Ted Cruz said Wednesday afternoon he is “long-term optimistic and short-term pessimistic” on the question of passing any immigration reform legislation. Speaking with Javier Palomarez, the president of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Texan presidential candidate said he considers himself a “proponent of immigration reform.” But, Cruz added, political leaders should focus on those aspects that have “bipartisan support.”
“I think we should address these issues one at a time,” Cruz said, arguing that there is consensus for securing the border and reforming the legal immigration system, but stopped short of saying what he would do for those illegal immigrants currently in the country.
“When it comes to immigration, I don’t think you have to solve every issue all at once,” he said.
Cruz spent much of the discussion on immigration reforming criticizing the way Barack Obama has approached the issue. The president, he said, has been exploiting the issue of immigration reform for political purposes. “What he’s doing is focusing deliberately on the most partisan, the most divisive issue on this debate,” he said.
“Neither President Obama nor the Senate Democrats want to solve this problem,” Cruz added. “They want to use it to scare the Hispanic community.”
Cruz, whose father immigrated to the United States from Cuba, said “there is no stronger advocate for legal immigration in the U.S. Senate” than himself. He cited his support for an amendment to the Gang of Eight’s 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill to expand the number of H-1B visas.
“When that amendment came to a vote, every single Democratic member on the Senate Judiciary committee voted against it,” said Cruz, who ended up voting against the Gang of Eight’s bill. “I think the way to get something done is not to play the divisive politics.”
