Rubio slams Cruz on immigration

Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, the Republican presidential candidate nominees who are desperately trying to paint themselves as viable alternatives to front-runner Donald Trump, were caught in a very public spat over the issue of immigration during the run-up to last night’s Iowa caucus.

The Florida senator told the Guardian newspaper that he has a clear record on immigration; however, he claims this is not the case when it comes to Cruz, who he says is deliberately misleading the American people. “Ted Cruz presents and portrays himself as this purist who’s never supported anything that even comes close to legalization [for undocumented immigrants] when in fact he did,” Rubio declared after Sunday’s town hall session in Cedar Rapids.

Rubio points out that Cruz was one of the architects of the legalization policy of former president George W Bush when he was running for the Oval Office, and that he has repeatedly mentioned the need to reach a compromise with regard to the undocumented immigrants who already live and work in the United States. “He said he wanted to see immigration reform pass, he wanted to see people come out of the shadows. And now he’s pretending that that never happened and it did,” Rubio explained.

Rubio notes that his problem with Cruz is not his stance on the immigration issue but his disingenuousness in pretending that his views have not changed and his apparent belief that no one will notice.

Rubio came third in last night’s caucus, with Cruz victorious over Trump.