What was Cruz position on legalizing illegal immigrant status?

My cursory review of Cruz's own speech in the Senate, the content of his amendment lead me to the conclusion that he tried to torpedo the gang of eight.  His proposal to prevent illegals from ever becoming Americans was placed there after the Hispanic Caucus made it known it would not accept this under any circumstances.
I don't believe he ever thought to support a bill which had been changed in accordance to the amendment he proposed. He certainly opened the door to that when he proposed it, but I see little to indicate he meant it.
The following are abstracts from the NYT, the Texas Tribune, and Cruz's Senate speech in support for his amendment. Those were the principal sources of my conclusions.
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NYT: Cruz Tries to Claim the Middle Ground on Immigration -- Jay Root and Julian Aguilar

This article, published in September 2013, seems to have an even handed review of Cruz. I wish it did not come from such a compromised paper as the NYT.

"Immigration-reform legislation from the Senate’s so-called Gang of Eight passed that chamber in June and includes a 13-year path to citizenship. Mr. Cruz pushed unsuccessfully for amendments that would have, among other things, eliminated the citizenship component."

1. “The amendment that I introduced removed the path to citizenship, but it did not change the underlying work permit from the Gang of Eight,” he said
2.Mr. Cruz said the Obama administration and partisan Democrats would not yield on the citizenship requirement, which they know would kill the entire effort because of a lack of support in the House.
3. “If your objective is actually to pass a bill insisting on a path to citizenship, it is in both intent and effect a poison pill,”
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TexasTribune: Cruz files border security anti amnesty amendments - Juan Aguilar
1. Forbid doling out entitlement benefits to illegals,
2. Mandate the Dept. of Homeland Security to triple the number of Border Patrol agents, quadruple equipment (cameras, drones and helicopters) before any certifications are accepted,
3. If the goals are not met within 3 years, 20% of HS budget gets slashed by 20% which is give as a block grant to Texas, Arizona, New Mexico for border security.

Response from pro ilegal group "America's Voice": “An amendment from Senator Ted Cruz would prohibit anyone who had been undocumented for any period of time ever from becoming a United States citizen in the future,” Frank Sharry, the group’s executive director, said in a statement. “This would not only destroy the path to citizenship in the Senate bill — the popular heart of an immigration reform solution — but also turn its back on one hundred years of precedent in immigration policy.”
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Cruz, Speech in support of his Ammendments

The gang of 8's bill will:
1. It handcuffs law enforcement.
2. Allows illegal re-entries to be naturalized
3. In 86 we amnestied 3M promising border security, the first part was correct, the 2nd time never happened. What comes first? Legalization or Border Security?
Overwhelmingly, the answer is security first, fencing first, biometric entry systems first none of which are in the gang of 8's bill.
4. My amendments does all of the above. (see Texas Tribune)
5. They assault them sexually and physically and often leave them to die in the desert.