On Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold birthright citizenship, labeling it a “travesty.” However, a journalist pointed out that the Republican senator previously supported this concept, suggesting he had changed his stance “before he felt the need to pander” to his political base.
Cruz strongly argued that the 14th Amendment, which clearly declares that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States,” was not intended to grant automatic citizenship.
The Texas senator aligns with President Donald Trump, whose attempts to challenge birthright citizenship led to the Supreme Court case. Yet, Yale Review editor James Surowiecki highlighted on Wednesday that Cruz previously expressed a different viewpoint.
Surowiecki used Cruz’s past statements from an interview to criticize him, posting on social media that Cruz had different views in 2011, “before he felt the need to pander to the xenophobic right.” This video was recorded when Cruz was still a Senate candidate.
“The 14th Amendment provides for birthright citizenship,” Cruz stated in the video.
The Canadian-born senator further commented, “I’ve examined the legal arguments against it, and I must say, as a Supreme Court litigator, those arguments are weak. Even if one dislikes the policy of birthright citizenship, it is in the U.S. Constitution.”
Cruz faced significant criticism on social media for this apparent reversal, including from former MSNBC host and Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan, who remarked: “There are very few people in modern politics more hypocritical, opportunistic, or shameless than Rafael Edward Cruz.”
This is not the first time Cruz has been criticized for changing his position on birthright citizenship. Then-Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) highlighted this shift during the 2016 presidential debates, and Trump himself pointed out the “conflicting stances” that year.
Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press
Before his first term, the MAGA leader proposed ending birthright citizenship and renewed the effort last year with an executive order aimed at denying citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented workers or individuals on temporary visas.
This move was officially rejected on Tuesday, much to Cruz’s likely satisfaction — at least as of 2011.
At that time, he stated, “I don’t like it when federal judges set aside the Constitution because their policy preferences are different. And so, my view, I think it’s a mistake for conservatives to be focusing on trying to fight what the Constitution says on birthright citizenship.”
