Ruben Navarrette: Cruz talks himself into a knot on immigration

He decried the path to citizenship as “amnesty” and cemented his reputation as a hardliner on immigration.

It is one of the more ludicrous claims to say: “Cruz and Sessions opposed citizenship, therefore they supported every other aspect of the bill”. Because I really get along with people much better than he does. “Let me tell you, I was there”. It would’ve barred those in the country illegally from ever becoming USA citizens and, Cruz said in Las Vegas yesterday, likely Democratic voters.

“It is not surprising that other candidates are throwing rocks at us”, he said, adding, “It is not surprising there are other candidates in the Republican field that are choosing to launch attacks our direction and choosing to launch false attacks our direction”.

Islamic State militants are “going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists”, she claimed.

If Cruz’s position was unclear in 2013, he’s clarified it since, saying during Tuesday night’s debate that he hasn’t and “doesn’t intend” to support a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants.

But when he introduced the amendment, Cruz said it was meant to be a compromise, offering legal status to undocumented immigrants, but without a pathway to citizenship.

Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, who appeared separately on “The Laura Ingraham Show”, said Cruz has gotten stronger on the immigration issue since the 2013 debate. That is what was going on, it was a pure partisan political game.

“When you spend your whole time telling people that you’re a clear talker and you say what you mean and everyone else is a sellout but you’re the only purist, I think it’s fair to say, ‘Well hold on a second, here’s where you’ve been on the past on some issues and here’s where you are now”, he said.

What Cruz also said, though, to his credit – and this is the crucial distinction between him and Rubio – is that he opposed the “legalization first” scheme of the Gang of Eight bill.

“I seen ya on the debate on TV and I said, ‘Man, I gotta see this guy up close'”. Marco Rubio (R-FL) have made mistakes during their time in the Senate, but neither would repeat them on Friday’s “McLaughlin Group”.

“Proponents of the Gang of Eight [immigration bill] were being hypocrites”.

Fair point about Cruz wanting to have it both ways – that’s my read on his amendment as well – but how on earth do you go after Cruz for being duplicitous on immigration without emphasizing that Rubio’s been even more duplicitous?

Cruz: Of course I wanted the bill to pass, my amendment to pass. “He’s the one that supports a 500-percent increase in guest workers into the United States, and he’s the one that supported legalization and legalizing people that are in the country illegally”. I oppose legalization for those here illegally.

Since that exchange, Cruz has been explaining his position on illegal immigration to members of the media. They suggested that, at the time, it seemed Cruz was seeking to position himself as a conservative still open to reform and has since moved to the right in order to court the anti-immigrant vote.

On immigration, Cruz has a key Senate defender. Cruz returned Sessions’ praise during his remarks, offering his Senate colleague up for a Cabinet post in his administration.

But after months of successfully pursuing an “under-the-radar” strategy that has allowed him to make his pitch to voters without taking much enemy fire from his rivals, Rubio is now fending off attacks on multiple fronts – and his campaign expects the dynamic of Tuesday’s debate to continue into next year’s primary race.