Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, says he believes the only way for the ongoing migrant crisis to be fixed will be via a new president in the White House who can reverse the “lawless” approach of the Biden administration.
“I believe the only way to solve this crisis is through a new president who’s actually willing to follow the law,” Cruz told Fox News Digital in an interview.
Cruz spoke as the ongoing crisis at the southern border, now into its third year, has hit record highs. Sources told Fox News there were over 260,000 migrant encounters in September — marking an all-time record.
Republicans have blamed the Biden administration for the ongoing crisis, arguing that the rollback of Trump-era policies fueled the crisis. Cruz cited three moves by the Biden administration in 2021 for causing the crisis: The ending of border wall construction; the broader use of “catch-and-release”; and the ending of the Remain-in-Mexico policy, in which migrants were held in Mexico for their asylum hearings.
He pointed to the consequences for his home state of Texas.
Sept. 20, 2023: Migrants mostly from Venezuela move into Eagle Pass, Texas. (Fox News)
“South Texas is in an absolute state of crisis. The jails are overflowing, the hospitals are overflowing, the schools are overflowing. And throughout Texas, we’re seeing the very real human consequences of Joe Biden and the Democrats’ open borders,” he said.
He also noted criticism the administration has received from Democratic officials, including in New York City — where officials have declared themselves overwhelmed at the more than 110,000 migrants they have seen come into the city. Cruz said those numbers are eclipsed by the numbers border communities are seeing. He noted one day in which Eagle Pass, Texas — which has a population of around 28,000 people — saw 4,000 migrant encounters.
“That is 14% of the entire population of the city coming in a single day. The comparable number to New York City would be 1,260,000 illegal immigrants crossing into New York City in a single day. If 110,000 is a crisis, what do you think over a million would be?” he asked. “That is happening throughout our southern border.”
The administration has repeatedly denied that its policies are to blame for the ongoing crisis. Officials have said they are dealing with a Hemisphere-wide challenge and that its policies of expanding lawful migration pathways, targeting root causes and reinstating “consequences” for illegal entry are working. It has also touted an increased number of returns since the ending of Title 42, claiming more have been returned than in the same period in 2019.
Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Russia is likely to face “a persistent and significant insurgency” after President Vladimir Putin misjudged how his war against Ukraine would unfold the top U.S. spy chief said today. Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The administration has also called on Republicans to provide more funding to the southern border as requested by the administration, while also passing comprehensive immigration reform legislation to fix what it says is a “broken” system.
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Republicans have introduced, and passed in the House, their own border security and asylum overhaul. Cruz introduced the Senate version of that legislation, and says that Congress should pass it “immediately.”
He also says the crisis could be solved if instead of releasing migrants into the interior, the administration deports them instead. But he says he does not believe that will happen, arguing that the Biden administration has been more radical than even the Obama administration.
“[Former President Barack] Obama generally followed the law on immigration, which meant the Obama administration deported millions of people. If you remember, the left wing got very angry with him and called him the deporter in chief,” he said.
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“What Joe Biden is doing has never happened in the history of our nation. He’s simply ignoring the law, is defying the law brazenly,” he said. “And as long as you have a president, as long as you have a chief executive who ignores the law, it doesn’t matter what laws are on the books. If you have a president that is willing to defy the law and you have a corrupt corporate media that is willing to cover for his illegal conduct, as long as this lawless administration remains in power, this crisis will continue, and I believe it will continue to get worse.”