Cruz Talks Himself Into a Knot on Immigration

SAN DIEGO -- Ted Cruz used to be known for straight talk. But on immigration, all we hear from the Texas senator is doublespeak.

Gracias, Marco Rubio. It took the Florida senator to open up a national dialogue over whether Cruz -- despite his bluster against "amnesty" -- at one point actually supported legislation that would have given legal status to the undocumented as long as it didn't include a path to citizenship.

If someone was going to attack Cruz's character, it makes sense that it would be a fellow Cuban-American. Every Latino learns sooner or later: No one can hurt you like one of your own. We know each other's weak spots and which buttons to push. And we'll push them.

This telenovela began when Cruz recently jabbed at Rubio for co-sponsoring in 2013, as part of the Senate's "Gang of Eight," a controversial immigration bill that Cruz has insisted was "amnesty."

Never mind that, after an amendment process designed to attract the broadest possible support, the path to citizenship was made so long and difficult that policy analysts estimated that only half of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States could ever qualify. Those are facts, but the immigration debate has shown little tolerance for such things.

During the recent Republican presidential debate, the senator from Florida punched back by insisting that Cruz is in no position to criticize anyone for having supported the immigration bill since Cruz himself had proposed an amendment -- which would have bestowed legal status instead of citizenship -- that he said at the time was intended to help the bill get passed. Rubio was implying that Cruz is a hypocrite and opportunist who can't be trusted.

At first, Cruz tried to brush off the charge by declaring that he has always opposed amnesty.

But Rubio wouldn't let it go, demanding that debate moderators ask the Texas senator the question directly: "Does Ted Cruz rule out ever legalizing people that are in this country now?"

Cruz responded: "I have never supported legalization, and I do not intend to support legalization."

It might be that both parts of that response are false.

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