Sessions Becomes First Senator to Endorse Trump

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) became the first senator to endorse Donald Trump today, an announcement that may hit Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) the hardest.

Cruz frequently mentions Sessions, a strong opponent of illegal immigration, on the campaign trail.

Last week Sessions, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, held a hearing on the H-1B visa program and its impact on the American workforce. Cruz, a member of the committee, was on the campaign trail but submitted a statement into the record noting the work that “Sessions and I, and other advocates of immigration enforcement” have done on bringing attention to “a lack of enforcement.”

“I am proud to not only have the chance to contribute to this hearing today, but to work with Senator Sessions to bring about serious H-1B visa program reform. Specifically, Senator Sessions and I introduced S. 2394, the American Jobs First Act, in December,” Cruz said. “…While Senator Sessions and I think our bill would take bold steps to reform the H-1B visa program, other bipartisan pieces of H-1B visa program reform legislation are out there, and offer different approaches to fixing the broken H-1B visa program.”

This evening, Sessions stood on a Huntsville stage with Trump to announce he’s “pleased to endorse Donald Trump for the presidency of the United States.”

“It may be the last opportunity we have for the people’s voice to be heard. You have asked for 30 years, and politicians have promised for 30 years to fix illegal immigration,” Sessions said.

The senator argued that “the American people have known for years these trade agreements have not been working for them.”

“We now have and will soon have a vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Obamatrade, and it will damage America. It will create a commission that undermines our sovereignty, and it should not pass. Donald Trump when he gets elected president will see it does not pass,” he said.

Sessions said he told “Trump this isn’t a campaign; this is a movement.”

“This movement, he doesn’t take money from political groups and lobbyists. He is committed to leading this country in an effective way. You know, nobody is perfect. We can’t have everything, can we, Mr. Trump?” Sessions continued. “But I can tell you one thing, I think at this time in my opinion, my best judgment, at this time in America’s history, we need to make America great again.”