About Ted

51 years old

Hometown: Calgary, Canada

Rafael Edward Cruz—better known as Ted—was born in Alberta, Canada to an American mother and Cuban father. His family moved to Houston, Texas in his youth. Cruz went on to attend private schools in the area before graduating from Princeton University in 1992 and Harvard Law School in 1995, both times with honors. Cruz clerked in the U.S. Court of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court before moving into private practice briefly in 1997. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Solicitor General of Texas while also teaching at the UT Austin School of Law. After successfully running for the Senate seat in Texas in 2012, Cruz became the first Hispanic American to hold the position. This fall, he hopes to become the first Hispanic American to become President.

If elected, Cruz's economic plan would focus on taxes. He views reducing income and business tax as the best way to stimulate economic growth and create jobs.^[1]

If elected, Cruz would work with allies to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, eliminate ISIS, and better combat terrorism around the world. Cruz would follow a three-point doctrine: Always have clearly stated goals tied to national security, use overwhelming force and remove rules of engagement that tie the hands of soldiers, and get out the affected area when the the military task is completed.^[2]

If elected, Cruz's first priority for immigration would be securing the U.S.-Mexico border. Cruz would then work to remove undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States. He would reform legal immigration, enforce public-charge doctrine, and work to create a constitutional amendment to end birthright citizenship.^[3]

If elected, Cruz would secure the U.S.-Mexico border by building a wall, tripling the number of border patrol agents, increasing aerial surveillance, and finishing the biometric tracking system. He would remove undocumented immigrants from the U.S. by increasing deportations, ending sanctuary policies and prohibiting undocumented immigrants from receiving financial benefits. In reforming the legal immigration system, Cruz would suspend all issues of H-1B Visas for 180 days until a review of the program can be done, preventing any increase in legal immigration as long as American unemployment is high.^[3]

If elected, Cruz would work to implement a flat tax and eliminate the need for the IRS. For individuals and families, the tax rate would be set at 10% while the rate for businesses would be set at 16%. Cruz would remove the payroll tax but maintain full funding for Social Security and Medicare. He would also work to remove the estate tax, the alternative minimum tax, and tax on profits earned abroad.^[1]

If elected, Cruz would support increasing hydraulic fracturing, construction of the Keystone Pipeline, modernizing refiners, increasing offshore drilling, and expanding energy exports to meet the energy needs of the country. He would also increase energy development on private land. Cruz does not believe in global climate change and would not work to reverse it.^[4][5]

If elected, Cruz would work to reduce the size and power of the federal government. He would cut five departments: The IRS, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Commerce, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He would follow up by eliminating 25 federal agencies, bureaus, and commissions. Cruz would also reinstate grace commissions to improve government efficiency and place a hiring freeze on federal civilian employees.^[6]

Some of the federal agencies that Cruz would eliminate include the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Green Infrastructure Program, and the National Endowment for the Arts.^[6]