DREAMers Confront Ted Cruz on Immigration Policy

LUBBOCK, TX- Today, Texas Senator Ted Cruz spoke in Lubbock, Texas, where immigration was brought up.

After speaking about how Congress should work in a “bipartisan way to finally pass comprehensive immigration reform,” DREAMers confronted Ted Cruz to take his own advice and work with Democrats and Republicans to modernize our immigration system that unites families.

Unsurprisingly, the Tea Party Senator went into the usual Republican talking points about “supporting legal immigration”. He further talked about how “people who immigrate legally chose to be Americans.”

Diana Ixtlamati, 23, an undocumented student at Texas Tech University, taking issue with his statement, confronted Ted Cruz: “I am a DREAMer but I consider myself an American. In your eyes, what does that make me?”. Ms Ixtlamati came to the United States from Mexico when she was five months old.

Marco Malagon, a DREAMer that came to the US when he was 17 years old, challenged Sen Cruz stating that more than 60% of Americans support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Mr. Malagon urged him to be a champion on immigration and further challenged on Sen Cruz’s call for more enforcement, pointing to the studies indicating Texas border states are the safest in the country, and there is a record $18 billion allocated to immigration enforcement, more than all enforcement agencies combined, including the FBI.

Ms Ixtlamati pressed that “Texas Latino voters voted for immigration reform that protects families. And Texas DREAMers will continue to pressure Sen Cruz to ensure he listens to Texas families not the Tea Party.”