--- title: Ted Cruz Ad Shows Illegal Immigrants as Bankers and Lawyers description: In Ted Cruz's new immigration campaign ad, dozens of men with briefcases and women in heels slosh through a river and run through the desert canonical: https://time.com/4167503/ted-cruz-immigration-ad-2016-election/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-05T15:17:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:45.658Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ted Cruz's New Ad Depicts Illegal Immigrants as Lawyers and Bankers og:description: A creative new twist on the immigration argument og:url: https://time.com/4167503/ted-cruz-immigration-ad-2016-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt590cd2609040f706/69887593a988caf0d56b5c12/republican-debate-gop-presidential-021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: CNN Republican Presidential Debate, Las Vegas, America - 15 Dec 2015 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ted Cruz's New Ad Depicts Illegal Immigrants as Lawyers and Bankers twitter:description: A creative new twist on the immigration argument twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt590cd2609040f706/69887593a988caf0d56b5c12/republican-debate-gop-presidential-021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ted Cruz's New Ad Depicts Illegal Immigrants as a Bunch of Lawyers and Bankers > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 5, 2016 3:17 PM UTC  Ted Cruz at the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas on Dec. 15, 2015. Ted Cruz at the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas on Dec. 15, 2015. Matt Baron—BEI/Shutterstock  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 5, 2016 3:17 PM UTC Campaign ads [warning of immigrants illegally crossing the border](http://time.com/4165887/trump-first-ad-muslims/) into the U.S. are quickly becoming [a staple of the Republican presidential primary fight](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/05/us/politics/republicans-turn-up-heat-in-iowa-setting-aside-good-for-bad-and-ugly.html?). But [Ted Cruz has added a new twist](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/684360863361273856): His latest ad imagines the border crossers as dozens of men with briefcases and women in heels, sloshing through a river and run through the desert. In a voiceover, the Texas Senator makes an economic case for being tough on illegal immigration, saying media and political elites cannot relate to the realities for lower-wage workers. “The politics of it would be very very different if a bunch of lawyers or bankers were crossing the Rio Grande,” he says. “Or if a bunch of people with journalism degrees were coming over and driving down the wages of the press.” **MORE** [_Here’s What’s Wrong With Donald Trump’s Campaign Ad_](http://time.com/4166931/donald-trumps-campaign-ad-shows-the-border-with-morocco/) Cruz’s spot comes in the same week that both businessman [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4165887/trump-first-ad-muslims/) and former Florida Gov. [Jeb Bush](http://time.com/4166005/jeb-bush-tv-ad-isis-donald-trump/) [released new ads](http://time.com/4166931/donald-trumps-campaign-ad-shows-the-border-with-morocco/), in a flurry of activity before early-voting begins in Iowa and New Hampshire. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4167503/ted-cruz-immigration-ad-2016-election/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4167503/ted-cruz-immigration-ad-2016-election/"},"headline":"Ted Cruz's New Ad Depicts Illegal Immigrants as a Bunch of Lawyers and Bankers","datePublished":"2016-01-05T15:17:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:45.658Z","description":"A creative new twist on the immigration argument","url":"https://time.com/4167503/ted-cruz-immigration-ad-2016-election/","keywords":["ted cruz","2016 Election","Immigration"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt590cd2609040f706/69887593a988caf0d56b5c12/republican-debate-gop-presidential-021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt590cd2609040f706/69887593a988caf0d56b5c12/republican-debate-gop-presidential-021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CNN Republican Presidential Debate, Las Vegas, America - 15 Dec 2015","caption":"Ted Cruz at the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas on Dec. 15, 2015.","creditText":"Matt Baron—BEI/Shutterstock","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ted-cruz/","name":"ted cruz"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4167503/ted-cruz-immigration-ad-2016-election/","name":"Ted Cruz's New Ad Depicts Illegal Immigrants as a Bunch of Lawyers and Bankers"}}]}] ```