The Republican presidential candidates’ views on immigration have been dominated by the hot rhetoric of Donald Trump. But it’s worth looking at Sen. Ted Cruz’s recent remake of his own immigration stance, since the Texas senator consistently polls among the top four GOP candidates.
While he hasn’t gone to the extremes of Donald Trump, some elements of Cruz’s revised position are troubling, such as his desire to suspend a program that provides work visas to highly skilled immigrants.
His shift on work visas is particularly difficult to swallow since it contrasts with the stance he took as recently as this summer, when he touted “legislation to increase the number of H-1B visas if there are people who are educated and talented and creating jobs.”
In 2013, Cruz offered an amendment to the Gang of Eight immigration bill that, according to a press release from his own office, “would improve our nation’s legal immigration system by increasing high-skilled temporary worker visas … by 500 percent.”
The amendment failed.
Cruz says now that he wants a “comprehensive investigation and audit of pervasive allegations of abuse of the program: Initiate an immediate 180-day investigation and audit of the H-1B visa program and enact fundamental reforms of this program to ensure that it protects American workers.”
The senator is correct that there have been instances of a few companies abusing the H-1B program, including allegations that Disney and Southern California Edison replaced hundreds of tech workers with foreign workers on such visas.
But most companies have used the program responsibly, which should be reformed and not suspended. A number of leading firms do in fact have trouble filling positions that would help them expand. But Cruz was clearly looking for an excuse to walk back from his former support for various forms of legal immigration, and has joined those candidates vying to see who can be most restrictive.
Cruz, a son of a Cuban immigrant who came legally to the U.S., used to say, “I strongly support legal immigration. Legal immigration is a fundamental pillar of our nation’s heritage.”
The new Cruz apparently has had his eyes opened to the requirements of a path to the White House. Not only does he favor beefing up border security and increasing deportations, he also wants to prevent any increase in legal immigration “so long as work-force participation rates remain below historical averages.”
That’s a convenient formula for reversing his previous strong support for legal immigration, pretty much permanently.
The old Cruz had it right: Crack down on illegal immigration but welcome legal immigrants, particularly the best and brightest who are highly skilled.
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