AFAIK, Cruz has never called for the deportation of every illegal immigrant. He has called for banning any pathway to citizenship for them. This recent article says as much.
As he said to Kelly, he’s said previously that they’ll have a conversation about what to do with the illegals here after securing the border.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s no different than Trump’s position in the end, because Trump says he wants to bring back in the good ones. Trump has not said they could never become citizens after returning. So in that way, Cruz might be more conservative than Trump. I don’t really care if the illegals leave and come back vs. just stay if they’re going to get legal status in the end. Neither Trump nor Cruz is making it clear what the end picture looks like of how many current illegals will become legal.
I believe there is a good reason for this.
Just as you don't show your hand to the enemy by announcing a schedule for withdrawal, you don't show your hand to the illegal aliens in residence until the rest of your policy is in place.
Once the border is secured and an e-verify procedure is in place, we can plan the next steps to take advantage of the new circumstances -- which should involve a lot of self-deportation.