Ted Cruz meets with local Republican Party; talks gun control, immigration

More than 500 Republicans and Cruz supporters were in attendance at 31st annual Lincoln Day Dinner.

When Cruz spoke to the media, the conversation quickly turned to the recent school shooting in Florida that left 17 dead.

Cruz said the answer is not to undermine the Second Amendment for law-abiding citizens.

Saturday afternoon Sen. Ted Cruz was the keynote speaker at the Lincoln Day Dinner
hosted by the El Paso County Republican Party.

Cruz is running for re-election to a second term, and in his speech he reinforced his stance on major issues facing Americans.

“What works is targeting criminals, targeting violent criminals, coming down on murderers and fugitives, coming down on them like a ton of bricks. That’s been something to say I’ve been proud in leading the United States Senate on,” Cruz said.

Cruz also spoke on border security.

“The overwhelming majority of Americans want to see the border secure,” Cruz said.

Cruz said the U.S. needs more resources along the southern border.

“We need to build a wall, to build fences, to deploy technology, to use infrared and heat sensors, to use fixed-wing and rotary wing aircraft, to triple the border patrol,” Cruz said.

Another pressing topic addressed was immigration reform.

“My dad came from Cuba in 1957. He came to America with nothing,” Cruz told the media.

Cruz has faced scrutiny from fellow Republicans on his conservative stance on immigration and DACA recipients.

Cruz says former president Obama’s DACA plan was unconstitutional and he can sum his thoughts up in four words: legal good, illegal bad.

“You see a number of Republicans who are advocating citizenship for 1.8 million people here illegally. I don’t believe we should be granting citizenship to anyone here illegally. The rule of law matters and we should be upholding the rule of law,” Cruz said.

Cruz was also asked if he wanted President Donald Trump to campaign for him in 2018.

He never gave a straight-forward answer, only saying he’s working on bringing Republicans together.