Cruz Calls O’Rourke’s Immigration Views ‘Extreme’ In Contentious Debate

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz called his opponent Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s views on immigration “extreme” during their debate on Tuesday night.

“Congressman O’Rourke not only opposes the wall but he has said we have too many fences and walls already on the border, he wants to tear down the ones we have,” Cruz stated. “And I’ll note, he brought up El Paso. El Paso is right across from Juárez, one of the most dangerous cities in the world, 3,000 murders last year. There’s a wall there. That wall is one of the tools you use to protect us.”

.@TedCruz says @BetoORourke is “extreme” on immigration. He says no race in the nation is “with a starker divide” on immigration than this one

Watch the debate live here, courtesy of @WFAA. #txsen #texasdebate #tx2018 https://t.co/AVHSTmNZVa pic.twitter.com/U7qrcrasZN

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) October 17, 2018

“But let me just give you an example of just how extreme Congressman O’Rourke is on immigration. Kate’s Law, commonsense legislation, overwhelming majority of Texans support it,” he continued.

“I’m the author of Kate’s Law in the Senate that says violent criminal illegal aliens if they’re deported reported should face a mandatory minimum prison sentence. Congressman O’Rourke voted against Kate’s Law. That’s wrong. We should not be releasing violent criminals into our community,” Cruz concluded. (RELATED: Beto O’Rourke Raises Nearly $40 Million As Polls Plunge)

In June 2017, the House approved its version of “Kate’s Law,” a Trump administration-backed bill, that would raise the maximum prison sentence for illegal aliens caught reentering the country following deportation and increasing penalties for repeat offenders.

The bill is named after Kate Steinle, a woman who was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, in San Francisco in 2015. He was found not guilty of the murder.

O’Rourke did vote against the bill, though the libertarian Cato Institute argues that the bill “would not have helped Kate.” The Senate version was tougher than the House version, mandating that judges hand down minimum sentences of five years for those who re-enter the country after deportation.

Follow Mike on Twitter.