Ted Cruz 2016

Ted Cruz116px-Ted Cruz official portrait 113th Congress

Ted Cruz (R)

Ted Cruz receives an overall grade of: B


Ted Cruz receives a grade of Partial_C_white on the issue of Official English.

On the campaign trail, Ted Cruz advocates for the necessity of legal immigrants to learn English by utilizing the narrative of his father’s emigration from Cuba and assimilation into American values, culture, and language.  But Cruz has not issued a definitive statement regarding whether or not he supports making English the official language of the federal government. Cruz was elected to the Senate in 2012, but he has not yet availed himself of the opportunity to join on as a cosponsor to the English Language Unity Act (S.678) that was introduced by Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and cosponsored by Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD), John Boozman (R-AR), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), David Perdue (R-GA), David Vitter (R-LA).


Ted Cruz receives a grade of N/A on the issue of Bilingual Ballots.

Like most candidates, Cruz has been silent on the campaign trail about the issue of bilingual ballots. US law regarding naturalization of new citizens mandates that they pass an English comprehension test and, therefore, any immigrant with legal citizenship status can read a ballot.  The only candidate in 2016 who has a record of explicitly calling for ballots to be exclusively English is Rick Santorum, and that was in the previous Presidential cycle.


Ted Cruz receives a grade of Partial_C_white on the issue of Amnesty.

In June of 2015, Ted Cruz stated “Amnesty is wrong for America and for the rule of law. Especially when done by illegal executive fiat.” Cruz’s campaign website, debate performances, and interviews make it clear that he opposes amnesty, opposes a pathway to citizenship, supports completing the border fence, enhancing border patrols, creating a biometric entry/exit system, bolstering E-Verify, and ending Obama’s executive orders on the DREAM Act and DACA. Cruz’s record in the Senate reveals multiple attempts to defund Obama’s fiat executive order amnesties. However, to date, Cruz has not taken the step to advocate for Official English or sign on to Senator Inhofe’s English Language Unity Act (S.678).


Ted Cruz receives a grade of N/A on the issue of Puerto Rican Statehood.

Puerto Rican Statehood — Ted Cruz has aggressively courted GOP delegates in Puerto Rico by means of surrogates.  Cruz has not made a high-profile visit to the island, as have Clinton, Rubio, and Carson.  Cruz has not issued any major statements for or against Puerto Rican statehood.  He has not clarified what his stance on a referendum would be (pro-statehood, pro-commonwealth, or pro-independence). Most importantly, he has not indicated what the role of official English would be if Puerto Rico were to pass a referendum and Congress were to admit Puerto Rico to the Union as a state.


Ted Cruz receives a grade of N/A on the issue of English-in-the-workplace.

The Ted Cruz campaign website does not have a statement regarding whether or not he supports the right of employers to require that only English be used for all work-related interactions in the workplace.


Ted Cruz receives a grade of Gold_Star on the issue of Multiculturalism & Assimilation.

When he ran for Senate in 2012, Ted Cruz declined the offer of his opponent to do a debate in Spanish on the grounds that: “Most Texans speak English … [My opponent] wants to do a debate in a language where the vast majority of primary voters don’t understand it, because he doesn’t want them to hear about his record.”  On the stump in 2016 and in debates, Ted Cruz repeatedly tells the story of his father’s resistance against the Batista regime in Cuba, his immigration from Cuba to America, and his continuing struggle against Cuban communism. By means of this narrative, Cruz repeatedly emphasizes the tenets of American Exceptionalism and the unique roles of political liberty, individual rights, freedom of religion, and free enterprise.  Cruz’s overall campaign narrative thus supports the process of assimilation of legal immigrants and shuns multicultural relativism.