US border: Ted Cruz calls on Biden to ‘stop hiding in basement’ and witness ‘humanitarian

Ted Cruz today slammed President Joe Biden for the ‘humanitarian crisis’ at the southern border and urged him to ‘stop hiding in the basement’ and see the tens of thousands of migrants massing there in a bid to reach US soil.

In a scathing speech, a visibly furious Cruz blamed Biden for the over 22,000 illegal migrants who were camping across the Rio Grande river opposite Brownsville, Texas, saying it was ‘his fault’.

The Texas Senator waved his finger at the camera as he said the US has the ‘worst illegal immigration in the history of our country’ and it’s going to get worse now that the Title 42 has expired because of Biden’s policies.

The Republican said: ‘I’m standing here in our southern border with the Rio Grande river right behind me in Brownsville, Texas. Title 42 is going to expire in just a few hours.

‘We are seeing an invasion in our southern border and there are right now over 22,000 illegal immigrants across the river.’

Pointing behind him, Cruz continued: ‘You can see the lights, you can see people camping out, if you look you can see them. They are waiting for Title 42 to expire and then the invasion that we are going to see is going to be massive.

‘We already have the worst illegal immigration in the history of our country and in just a few hours its getting worse. Joe Biden this is your fault.’

During his scathing rant, Cruz also said it was Biden’s ‘fault’ if any of the children illegally crossing the river and into the US were hurt or if any of the migrants were killed while attempting to cross. 

‘The people who are killed crossing illegally, that’s your fault. The women who are sexually abused while crossing illegally, that’s your fault. The children who are brutalised crossing illegally, that’s your fault.’

Cruz added: ‘Come down here President Biden. Stop hiding in the basement, stop pretending this misery is not your fault. Stop it. This is not humane, this is not compassionate, this is cruel.’

For more than three years, Title 42 had allowed the government to quickly expel millions of migrants who illegally crossed the border before they could apply for asylum during the pandemic. 

But now that Biden’s administration are lifting Covid-19 protocols, they are also lifting the rule that restricted migration – a move that has seen tens of thousands of migrants massing on the southern border that many have called a ‘disaster’.

Tens of thousands of migrants, including young children and even babies, are now expected to try and cross into the United States over the coming days.

Minutes after the Title 42 border control measures were lifted on Thursday night, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border not to believe the ‘lies’ of the people traffickers who claim the border is now open. 

‘We have 24,000 Border Patrol Agents and Officers at the Southwest Border and have surged thousands of troops and contractors, and over a thousand asylum officers to help enforce our laws,’ he said. 

‘Do not believe the lies of smugglers. The border is not open.’

Mayorkas and the Biden administration have faced an avalanche of criticism for the scenes at the border, as thousands of migrants gather in the hope of entering the U.S. now the restrictions have ended.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said smugglers were massing in large numbers at the southern border of his country, offering to take migrants to the United States and telling them the border was open starting Thursday.

But Mayorkas on Thursday tried to tell those aiming to cross that it was a bad move. He said now illegal migrants face being barred from entering the U.S. for five years and possible criminal prosecution.

‘Starting tonight, people who arrive at the border without using a lawful pathway will be presumed ineligible for asylum,’ he tweeted. 

‘We are ready to humanely process and remove people without a legal basis to remain in the U.S. 

‘People who do not use available lawful pathways to enter the U.S. now face tougher consequences, including a minimum five-year ban on re-entry and potential criminal prosecution. 

‘Together with our partners throughout the federal government and Western Hemisphere, we are prepared for this transition.’

But Republicans have slammed Biden’s administration for what they call an ‘invasion’.

Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas told Fox News the border situation was a ‘disaster.’

‘The number one threat to our national security is right here in southern Texas, all the way to Arizona,’ he said. ‘This is not the America that I grew up in.’

Democratic congressman Mike Levin of California accused Republicans of playing ‘political football’ with the country’s broken immigration system.

They are more interested in ‘scor(ing) points than actually doing the work to fix it,’ he said.

Chaotic scenes unfolded of migrants scrambling to enter the country on Thursday before Title 42 expired and the new rule went into effect

Thousands of migrants have waded through rivers, climbed walls and scrambled up embankments onto U.S. soil in recent days, hoping to be processed before midnight.

Some migrants turned themselves in to border officials. Others tried to cross undetected.

In Brownsville, where Cruz has been watching migrants mass on the other side of the river, there were dozens of police cars deployed on the US side of the bridge that connects the city to its Mexican neighbor Matamoros.

Earlier on Thursday, groups of migrants crossed the Rio Grande River in chin-high water. Some carried tiny babies and bags of belongings above their heads to make it into Brownsville.

Heavy earth-moving equipment could be seen a little further on, with personnel readying the ground to install barbed wire.

In El Paso, hundreds of people who passed into the country through a legitimate border gate on Thursday had been processed and allowed to lodge their initial asylum claim.

Many others were being held back by Texas National Guardsmen who stopped them from coming through the border.

And there was apparent confusion among rank-and-file border patrol officers about exactly what will happen in the coming hours and days.

‘We don’t know,’ said one when asked how they would handle migrants who made it through.

More migrants – including families with young children wrapped in Mylar blankets – awaited processing while penned between two towering border walls in San Diego, California, across from Tijuana, Mexico. 

In Ciudad Juarez, Agustin Sortomi said he, his wife and two children had tried several times to surrender to US authorities but had been turned away.

‘A lot of people are already coming from there saying that they closed the doors and they won’t let anyone through. I don’t know what to do,’ he said.

‘We haven’t realized our dream. Only God knows when we will.’

Trump first implemented Title 42 in March 2020 as COVID swept the globe. Health officials said at the time the order aimed to curb the spread of the virus in crowded detention facilities. It allowed US authorities to quickly expel migrants to Mexico or other countries without the chance to request U.S. asylum.

But Democrats, public health experts and immigration advocates saw it as an extension of Trump’s quest to block migrants at the border.

Biden, who campaigned on reversing Trump’s policies, kept Title 42 in place and ultimately expanded it.

Migrants have been expelled more than 2.7 million times under Title 42, although the total includes many repeat crossers.

Mexico has generally only accepted certain nationalities – its own citizens, many Central Americans and more recently migrants from Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti. So during the same period, around 2.8 million migrants ineligible for expulsion were allowed into the United States under a process known as Title 8 to pursue their immigration claims in court, which can take months or years.

Even before Title 42 expired, along with the end of the COVID public health emergency, Biden’s administration was grappling with record numbers of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, straining U.S. authorities and border cities.

Republicans fault Biden for easing the more restrictive Trump policies. Biden has blamed Congress for not passing comprehensive immigration reform.

But with the new asylum rule, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other Biden officials have been trying to spread the message that illegal crossers will face consequences, sending troops and thousands of additional personnel to the borer.

“Do not believe the lies of smugglers. The border is not open,” Mayorkas said in a statement.

Some migrants who spoke to Reuters on Thursday said they heard it would be more difficult to enter the country after May 11 and rushed to cross before the deadline. Daily apprehensions rose above 10,000 this week and detention capacity maxed out.

Due to the high volume of arrivals, agents on Wednesday began releasing some migrants without a notice to appear in immigration court where they can make an asylum claim, telling them to report to an immigration office later. 

But late Thursday night, a federal judge in Florida blocked such releases, saying they failed to follow proper regulatory procedures.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection called the ruling “harmful” and said it would “result in unsafe overcrowding” at border facilities.