Yesterday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) spent the last day of markup pushing changes to the immigration bill like his amendment 3, which would have barred all undocumented immigrants from ever being able to gain citizenship. Today, immigration reform advocates and their allies swarmed Cruz’s office in DC to denounce his stand against citizenship—and his eventual vote against the immigration bill moving out of markup.
As Marco Malagon, founder and president of the North Texas Dream Team, said in a press release, “I want to be a citizen, I want to vote and I want to contribute. [Cruz] isn’t representing our community.”
The action, which brought 40-50 people to Cruz’s office, was organized by Casa de Maryland and included DREAMers and religious leaders from Texas and other parts of the US.
Echoed Rogelio Nunez, the Executive Director of Proyecto Libertad in Texas:
What they need to understand is that 40% of Texans are Latino and that number is growing. Cornyn and Cruz aren’t reflecting the values of those Latinos or Texans in general. It is an insult to go against he family values of Texans and Latinos. The fact that other Republicans on the committee — and even Mitch McConnell saying he won’t block the bill —shows how far off Cruz and Cornyn are. I can only hope for a change of heart when the bill gets to the floor.
