During the latest Republican debate, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz were at odds over whether or not to grant immigrants a path to citizenship. While Cruz and Rubio, both sons of Cuban immigrants, agreed that securing the border was a national priority, it was abundantly clear that Rubio is pro-immigration and Cruz is not. In fact, Cruz adamantly stated ““I have never supported legalization and I do not intend to support legalization.” Although Rubio was criticized by his republican counterparts for his views on immigration, the debate was successful in showing that Rubio is the only candidate willing to go against the “party line” to vocalize his pro-immigration stance. For example, he makes it clear that he intends to offer some form of legalized status to unauthorized immigrants who already live in the United States, a position that puts him at odds with many republicans but sets him apart from all of the other candidates. Some political analysts say that his may be helpful to his candidacy because pro-immigration conservatives and Latino republicans exist in the populace. Indeed, Alfonso Aguilar, the leader of the Hispanic Republican group that met in Las Vegas the day before the most recent debate, said the Cruz campaign fundamentally doesn’t understand Latino voters which will likely cause him to lose the Presidential race. In fact, many hispanic leaders posit that Rubio is the only candidate who would actually have a chance of beating out Hillary Clinton for the Latino vote.
At the Shulman Law Group, LLC, our staff keeps apprised of the political issues relating to immigration. We will continue to closely follow the presidential campaign to share with our current and perspective clients topics associated with immigration reform. Indeed, the interplay between politics and immigration is a critical one and selecting the most pro-immigration leader will be important to ensuring that long-overdue pro-immigration legislation will be passed.