Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) says the United States’ illegal immigration problem stems from President Joe Biden’s border policies and unwillingness to “follow the law.”
Cruz told Fox News Digital on Sunday that the issue could be averted if the United States had a “new president” who enforced the country’s immigration laws. His comments come as records continue to be broken regarding the number of illegal immigrants entering the United States under Biden.
“South Texas is in an absolute state of crisis,” the Texas Republican said. “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.”
Customs and Border Protection recorded roughly 260,000 illegal immigrant encounters on the southern border in September, according to the New York Post. That’s the highest number on record, with the previous monthly record being 252,320 encounters in December 2022.
Cruz told Fox that in just one day, there were 4,000 migrant encounters in Eagle Pass, Texas, one of the centers of the illegal immigration crisis. Eagle Pass has a population of 28,000 people, the outlet notes.
“That is 14% of the entire population of the city coming in a single day,” Cruz said. “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? That is happening throughout our southern border.”
New York City, which considers itself a “sanctuary city,” has seen an influx of illegal immigrants under the Biden administration. In just the past year, roughly 117,000 illegal immigrants have entered the Big Apple, and many of those are still being housed on the city’s dime, The Daily Wire reported.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who campaigned on keeping the city a “sanctuary” for illegal immigrants, has gone so far as to say the “issue will destroy New York City.” Adams wrapped up a trip to Latin America on Saturday, where he attempted to discourage migrants from unlawfully crossing the border.
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As for what’s behind the recent surge, Cruz says that Biden’s reversal of at least three of former President Donald Trump’s border policies is to blame. These include Biden ending the construction of Trump’s border wall, increasing usage of “catch-and-release,” and ending the “Remain in Mexico” policy, Fox reported.
Cruz says one thing can reverse the disastrous state of the border: a new president. “I believe the only way to solve this crisis is through a new president who’s actually willing to follow the law,” he said. He added that Biden is even more radical on immigration than former President Barack Obama, saying Obama “generally followed the law on immigration.”
“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,” Cruz 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.”
