| February 29th, 2016

Sparks fly at last GOP Debate before Super Tuesday

By: journeymagazine

Words By: Ayanna Zulu

And then there were five. The remaining Republican Presidential candidates gathered in Houston, TX on Feb. 25 for final primary debate before Super Tuesday and was aired on Fox Business Network. Students were definitely tuned in.

Amanda Ross, a junior political science student from Boise, ID said that she makes sure that she knowledgable on all of the candidates running for president.

“I don’t always agree but it makes you a well educated voter when you listen to each candidate’s platform points. It’s hard to understand their views on illegal immigration and they’re speaking in Houston where there is a huge population of latinos,” Ross said.

Donald Trump, leader in the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination polls, took the center of the stage and was asked how he will force Mexicans to pay for the 55-foot wall that he claims will protect the United State’s border.

“I will and that wall just got 10 feet higher,” Trump said.

Republican 2016 U.S. presidential candidate businessman Donald Trump pauses at his podium during the first official Republican presidential candidates debate of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign in Cleveland, Ohio, August 6, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Trailing closely behind Trump in the polls, is Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Rubio responded to Trumps with a feisty rebuttal after the audiences’ eruption of applause.

“If he builds the wall the way he built Trump Towers he’ll be using illegal immigrants to do it, ” Rubio said.

The debate continued with rebuttals as such especially when the topic of discussion was the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy.

According to the United States Citizens and Immigration Services at uscis.com, DACA is a policy that allows “certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines may request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal. They are also eligible for work authorization.”When asked about DACA, Rubio stayed firm on his plan about ending the program.

“We will eliminate that executive order. The people that are on it now will not be able to renew it and new applicants will not be allowed to apply to it,” Rubio said.

Senator Ted Cruz sharply responded that he didn’t believe that Rubio would ever end DACA.

“We’ve all seen at home when Washington politicians say about an illegal or unconstitutional program ‘we’ll it’ll have to end some day not immediately, but some day in the future,’’ Cruz said. “That inevitably is when a politician doesn’t plan to end it at all.”

The moderators tried to keep the candidates on topic and keep the debate fair, allowing each candidate to respond to an attack on their campaign.

Dr. Ben Carson, who was the leading Republican Presidential nominee in the fourth debate felt that he wasn’t allotted enough time to speak or respond to other candidates.

“Can someone attack me please?” Carson said in attempt to interject the heated debate.

Texas has a large population of immigrants and is sensitive to the illegal immigration controversy. The results of Super Tuesday will force candidates to make important decisions in the remaining race for the Republican nominee for President of the United States.