Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is slamming Marco Rubio (R-FL) over his contradictions on immigration policy as a lawmaker and his endorsement of the rampant abuse of H-1B visas by large corporations.
Before formally unveiling his immigration program in Florida, Cruz appeared on the Mike Gallagher Show. The Texan he laughed at Rubio’s claims that he shares the same immigration record as Cruz.
“I laughed out loud at that,” Cruz said. “Marco’s a friend, but that statement was truly stunning. That’s like Obama saying my position is the same as his on Obamacare [and] like the Ayatollah Khamenei saying my position is the same as his on the Iranian nuclear deal. It is laughingly, blazingly, on its face false.”
Rubio again stood by his claims on Friday while addressing reporters in Florida’s Sunshine Summit where he said he was “puzzled and quite frankly surprised by Ted’s attacks since Ted’s position on immigration is not much different than mine.”
Cruz said Rubio opposed every single amendment both he and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) had introduced to prevent the further propelling of H-1B visa abuses and immigration issues. “I introduced an amendment to the Judiciary Committee to triple the border patrol [and] increase fourfold the fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft, to put in place a strong e-verify system; to put in place a strong exit-entry system for visa overstays.” He said in addition to every Senate Democrat on the committee voting against it so did the sponsors of the Gang of Eight bill, including Rubio.
He also said that he and Sessions are currently working on creating major reforms. “If I am elected president, the H-1B visa program will not be used to replace American workers and if it is, any company that attempts to do so will face serious legal penalties and even prosecution.”
Earlier this week in an interview on the Laura Ingraham Show, Cruz laid out the serious abuses by major corporations of the H-1B visas over the past few years. He said the program was designed to bring in true talent that was not readily available in America.
“But we’re seeing report after report after report of companies, not bringing in high-skilled workers, but bringing in people with college degrees–sometimes from diploma mills–and bringing them in to lay off American workers and forcing the American workers to train the people they’re bringing in. That is illegal [and] it is wrong.” He said he’s working with Sen. Jeff Sessions on introducing legislation to fundamentally reform the abuses in the H-1B program.
He told Ingraham that he does not believe it’s a good idea to increase immigration levels and with that the tripling of H-1B visas as Rubio has relentlessly sought to do:
I was introducing a whole series of amendments in part to demonstrate the hypocrisy of the Democrats. So, for example, the Democrats claimed they were supporting high-tech workers so I introduced an amendment on that—and every Democrat voted against it. It demonstrated that this was all a political endeavor for them and that what they were saying wasn’t true.
Earlier in his interview with Ingraham, Cruz reminded listeners that in the 1980s Congress made a deal to grant amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants in exchange for securing the borders. But the borders never got secured.
“And today, instead of 3 million it’s 12 million and the estimates are even higher than that,” Cruz said. He then said certain members of Congress are attempt to do the very same thing today. “The Gang of Eight fought tooth and nail to try and jam this amnesty down the American peoples’ throat” and that “the Gang of Eight voted as a gang against enforcing and securing the border.”
As for Rubio’s amnesty plan? Cruz said “the American people quite reasonably said ‘no.'”
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