ORLANDO, Fla. — Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is vowing to suspend a program that gives work visas to highly skilled immigrants, reversing his position on the program as part of an aggressive immigration plan designed to appeal to the GOP’s most conservative wing.
Cruz, the son of a Cuban immigrant, wants to dramatically increase deportations, add hundreds of miles to the wall on the Mexican border and reverse every immigration order signed by President Barack Obama — including one that defers enforcement for many children of immigrants in the country illegally.
“A steady flow of illegal immigrants coming in, driving down wages, impacts the wages of just about every person here,” Cruz told hundreds of cheering supporters gathered in a megachurch Friday.
Aside from the economic impact of illegal immigration, Cruz warned that a porous southern border makes the nation vulnerable to Islamic State terrorists and deadly diseases such as Ebola.
The first-term Texas senator would also triple the number of border patrol agents, increase aerial surveillance around the border and finish a biometric tracking system for immigrants entering the country legally.
Cruz’s campaign did not detail the cost of his proposals when asked.
The release comes as he intensifies his play for the GOP’s most conservative voters, a group that has favored businessman Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
The issue also allows Cruz to distinguish himself from Republican rivals such as Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, who support a pathway to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally.
Cruz’s position on high-skilled visas represents a complete about-face on one of his long-held immigration stances.
During the Senate immigration debate two years ago, the Texas senator was an outspoken advocate for increasing legal immigration, particularly for highly skilled immigrants.
He called legal immigration “a pillar of our nation’s heritage and strength.”
