AUSTIN (Nexstar) — As election season heats up, Sen. Ted Cruz is doubling down on immigration rhetoric while spotlighting his touting bipartisan efforts — especially after scoring an unexpected endorsement from Democratic Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg on Tuesday.
Cruz introduced the “Justice for Jocelyn Act” in July, named after Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old from Houston who was assaulted and murdered by two undocumented immigrants from Venezuela facing charges for the crime.
His proposal aims to end the so-called “catch and release” policy for undocumented immigrants by requiring that undocumented immigrants remain in federal custody if there are enough spots in detention centers open. While their cases are being processed and gives immigration officials the power to “immediately deport illegal aliens who violate the terms of their release,” according to a press release from Cruz’s office.
The Republican senator told Nexstar in a one-on-one interview Thursday that he thinks Ogg chose to endorse him largely due to his work on the Justice for Jocelyn Act.
“She endorsed me for a very simple reason,” Cruz said while speaking about Ogg’s endorsement. “Which is that she supports law enforcement and wants to lock criminals up, and she also wants to secure our border.”
Ogg announced her endorsement of Cruz on Tuesday for his 2024 bid for reelection to the U.S. Senate. Cruz has been courting Democratic support since launching his Democrats for Cruz coalition in March. He faces a challenge from Congressman Colin Allred, a Dallas Democrat who first was elected in 2018, beating a longtime Republican incumbent.
“It used to be, even a few years ago, there were a number of Democrats willing to work together to support law enforcement, to prosecute violent crime, to secure the border,” Cruz said. “Where we are now is, is that there, there are really some extreme voices.”
“Here’s the good news,” Cruz said. “Because it was unilateral executive action that caused the problem, in January of next year, President Trump is re-elected. Unilateral executive action can fix the problem, can reverse those decisions, and we’re going to secure the border and stop this invasion.”
Cruz cited Nungaray’s death as an example of why he is pushing to overhaul Biden’s border policy, blaming the current administration for the consequences.
“And what is so infuriating is this crime was preventable,” Cruz said. “If Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had simply followed the law, if they had deported those illegal immigrants when they came here illegally, it would never have happened.”
Allred has been speaking about immigration and border politics more than most of his other Democratic colleagues, saying he supports policies around security, but that address the legal issues with immigration.
In a statement to Nexstar, Paige Hutchinson — Allred’s campaign manager — accused Cruz of playing politics when it comes to immigration.
“Twelve years in the Senate, Ted Cruz has gotten nothing done to secure our border because he doesn’t care about Texans. When there was a plan supported by law enforcement, border patrol, Republicans, and Democrats, Ted Cruz stood in the way,” she said.