Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R), running against Tea Party favorite Ted Cruz in a heated U.S. Senate primary, is distancing himself from President Barack Obama's immigration announcement amid claims that he backed pro-immigrant measures on the state level.
In a 30-second ad released Wednesday, Dewhurst calls the border a "2,000-mile monument to the failure of Washington" and denounces Obama's recent policy change that allows some young, undocumented immigrants to stay in the country.
"Now Obama wants amnesty," Dewhurst says in the ad. "It burns me up."
(Watch the video above.)
Immigration has remained the top issue between Dewhurst and Cruz in the state's Republican Senate runoff, with each candidate pushing back that they are tougher on securing the border.
The latest blow came Monday, when Cruz accused Dewhurst of backing legislation that provides in-state tuition to some undocumented immigrants attending Texas' public universities.
"On the campaign trail, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst will say that he agrees with me on everything," Cruz told FOX Talk 950. "The difference is on his record. So, he joins me last week in denouncing what the president did. What Dewhurst didn't tell you, is he has long been a supporter of the Texas Dream Act, which is a similar version to what Obama did last week."
Dewhurst has said he opposes the Texas Dream Act, signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry, who was criticized for doing so while running for the Republican presidential nomination last year.
However, after a bill that would have reversed the Texas Dream Act failed in the state House in 2007, Dewhurst declined to try to gather votes for it in the state Senate.
In the new ad, Dewhurst repeats what he and Cruz have previously agreed on: The U.S. Border Patrol needs to be tripled in size.
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