Donald Trump’s shifting message on immigration has renewed criticisms of the campaign from a former rival from the primary season, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
Trump suggested in a Fox News Town Hall on Thursday that he was backing away from his long-held position that all people who are in the United States illegally should be deported. Instead he suggested that he would be open to “work with” certain immigrants who have been in the country for a long time.
Cruz and Trump sparred about immigration on the debate stage in February when the Texas Senator characterized the Republican candidate as someone who cuts deals with Democrats and supports amnesty and open borders.
For the Cruz campaign, the latest shifts to Trump’s message validates those criticisms.
“We really, really told you this was going to happen everybody,” said Cruz’s former Senate communications director Amanda Carpenter on CNN Thursday morning.
“But what we saw last night was that he is opening the door to comprehensive immigration reform by providing amnesty through legal status, not citizenship,” she added, pointing out that his position is similar to what Trump’s former rivals, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, advocated.
Ted Cruz has had a rocky relationship with Trump. He was booed off stage after refusing to endorse Trump at the Republican National Convention last month.
A Changing Position
The Republican candidate has made a consolidated effort in the past week to walk back and soften the tone of his message on the topic of illegal immigration, and taking a more sympathetic position towards undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for years.
“No citizenship. Let me go a step further—they'll pay back-taxes, they have to pay taxes, there’s no amnesty, as such, there’s no amnesty, but we work with them,” Trump told Sean Hannity after the Fox News host asked him about his policy.
