Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), during Pam Bondi’s attorney general confirmation hearing, lashed out at the Biden administration’s immigration policies amid the ongoing border crisis.
The lawmaker indicated that President Joe Biden’s handling of the border crisis was so abysmal that it made him miss the days of the Obama administration. He noted that “there’s another aspect of politicization and lawlessness, and that is refusing to follow the law, utterly defying federal statutory law.”
I think there's no area where this has been more egregious than as it concerns our immigration laws. We have had four years of a wide open Southern border. My state, Texas, has borne a disproportionate burden as a consequence of that, as 12 million illegal aliens have flooded into this country. No other President in the history of America has done what the Biden administration has done. The Biden Administration has simply ignored the law, and when illegal aliens are apprehended, they release them. Federal law says they shall be detained, says they shall be deported.
Cruz asserted that “our constitutional system is not meant to deal with a president who defies the law.”
He added: “I have said somewhat tongue in cheek, Joe Biden did something I previously thought was impossible. He made me miss Barack Obama.”
Because Barack Obama, for all my disagreements with him, when it came to illegal immigration, he, by and large, followed the law. Barack Obama deported millions of people. The left got mad at him and called him the ‘deporter-in-chief.’ No administration has ever done what this administration has done, which has said, ‘We are going to facilitate the invasion of this country. We're going to release 12 million people, and we are going to see Americans murdered, women raped, children abused and murdered. We're going to see drugs flood into this country, fentanyl flood into this country.’
Cruz asked Bondi about the impact of illegal immigration on American citizens. She answered, “American citizens, senator I know they’re paying the price every single day. We’re seeing it, we’re watching it. “We’ve talked about Laken Riley, of course, multiple times, but there are multiple victims of violent crime in all of our states.”
Cruz noted that “There are over 300,000 children that this administration has lost, little girls and little boys who came here unaccompanied were in this administration’s custody.”
They handed them over to adults, many of them not blood relatives, and they don't know where they are. I've never seen a single Democrat in this committee ask one question about the 300,000 children.
Ted Cruz lashes out at the Biden administration's failed immigration policies.
— Jeff Charles, Doni's St. Bernard🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) January 15, 2025
"Joe Biden did something I previously thought was impossible: He made me miss Barack Obama." pic.twitter.com/xaHYN2mOEX
Since President Biden took office, Border Patrol has experienced over 9.5 million encounters, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Moreover, there have been almost 2 million “gotaways” who have eluded the authorities and entered the country.
The Biden administration’s approach to immigration has been quite ineffective, especially since he reversed most of President-elect Donald Trump’s policies shortly after taking office. Since then, border towns and major cities across the country have been struggling to house illegal immigrants and asylum seekers. Trump has promised to put an end to the border crisis and to carry out mass deportations.