Far apart on immigration, Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke both use the issue to woo voters

[Elderberry]

Dallas News by Todd J. Gillman 8/11/2018

Rep. Beto O’Rourke has been barnstorming Texas, denouncing the border wall and the president’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies.

Sen. Ted Cruz has also made immigration a top issue, warning about liberals creating sanctuary cities to thwart federal enforcement efforts and joining the chorus demanding a wall.

Their views differ dramatically. But they have this in common: the shared assessment that immigration is a top concern for Texans, and a lever to motivate supporters. Other than the economy, it’s rare for an issue to resonate so broadly. Immigration is just such an issue at the moment, making the closely watched Senate race a referendum of sorts.

“Let’s stop taking little kids away from their parents,” O’Rourke told a cheering crowd recently in Odessa, where the El Paso Democrat called for a more welcoming attitude toward migrants — people willing to take on “backbreaking work ... that no one here in the state or the country is going to do.”

Martin Gonzalez Sr., 50, waited in line for a photo. They chatted in Spanish. He asked what O’Rourke would do about the 11 million people in the country illegally. No one is proposing amnesty, the congressman replied, explaining that he wants a three- to five-year process for immigrants to obtain green cards.

Gonzalez swam the Rio Grande illegally when he was 9. He became an American decades ago. He owns six restaurants in Odessa that employ about 100 people.

“It’s a good story. My whole family came from Mexico. There’s 12 of us. Seven of us graduated from college. Five own businesses. None has ever been arrested. Mr. Trump says that we’re all animals. We’re not. We’re not,” he said. “We come to work. ... I’ve never asked for assistance. I’m 50 years old. My kids have gone to college.”

His employees work legally, he said, but cooks and waitresses have relatives. Some get nabbed and deported, even if they’d fled drug cartels or gang violence. It’s gotten far worse under Trump, he said.

“The thing that is so wrong with this administration is that everybody has been measured with the same ruler,” Gonzalez said. “The Mexican community agree that all the criminals need to go. I guarantee that if you were to put a campaign for us to denounce people we know are doing bad things, everybody would do it.”

More: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2018-elections/2018/08/11/far-apart-immigration-ted-cruz-beto-orourke-use-issue-woo-voters