Troy Smith
Senator Ted Cruz confronted Biden Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during a hearing on Tuesday.
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Cruz grilled Mayorkas about the open border, showing a graph depiciting a steep rise in migrant deaths. Cruz was attempting to convey that the open border policies of the Biden Administration hurt even the migrants themselves.
See a transcript of their back and forth below…
Ted Cruz: Has the crisis made aliens less safe? Yes or no?
Mayorkas: Senator, we are seeking…
Ted Cruz: So you won’t answer that question. Either it’s a yes or no. Has it made aliens less safe?
Mayorkas: Senator, smugglers are exploiting has the crisis made aliens yes…
Ted Cruz: Are you willing to answer it?
Mayorkas: Senator, the smuggling organizations okay, you’re filibustering.
Ted Cruz: Again, let me ask you this question. How many migrants have died under President Biden?
Mayorkas: Senator, your phrasing of the question is actually quite misleading…
Ted Cruz: How many migrants died in 2022 at or approaching our southern border?… Do you know how many died?
Mayorkas: I do not.
Ted Cruz: You do not? Of course you don’t. I know how many died. 853. That is 853. And by the way, here are the numbers that have died every year. You go back to 1998, you see it’s consistently between 304 hundred. 304 to 404 hundred. Suddenly, in 2021, what happens? You get in office, and that red line are dead bodies. I’ve been on the Rio Grande and I’ve seen dead bodies floating there who’ve drowned because of your refusal to do your job. You don’t even know how many have died. What do you say to the Texas farmers and ranchers who find pregnant ladies dead on their property, who find toddlers dead on their property? What do you say to them?
See a clip of that full exchange below…
