Ted Cruz: “in the late 1980s, Congress debated and adopted amnesty legislation for 3 million people who were here illegally. It did…”

“in the late 1980s, Congress debated and adopted amnesty legislation for 3 million people who were here illegally. It did so promising the American people that in exchange for amnesty, the Federal Government would finally, finally, finally secure the border. We all know what happened. That amnesty occurred, and the border never got secured. At the time, there were 3 million people living here illegally. Today, estimates are that there are in excess of 12 million people living here illegally. Five years ago, in 2013, this body again debated amnesty. The so- called Gang of 8 again failed to secure the border but once again made the same promise of amnesty for millions here illegally in exchange for an ephemeral, never-to-come promise to secure the border. The Senate ultimately passed the Gang of 8 bill. As it was being voted on, Senate Democrats bragged on television that they believed they had north of 70 votes--that now was the time, again, to pass amnesty. Yet the American people rose up and said: Amnesty is not what we want. It is inconsistent with the rule of law. We saw Senators at the last minute jumping ship. At the end of the day, it passed this body by 68 votes and then went nowhere in the House of Representatives. So again, today, we are here having the same debate. I feel like Bill Murray in ``Groundhog Day,'' waking up and reliving the same day over and over and over, and the result is the same.…”