Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) had a testy exchange with a reporter over the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.
On Thursday, a reporter tried to ask Cruz what Republicans have done to improve the border situation.
“Let me ask you something. What rate of illegal immigration did we have in 2020?” the senator asked in return. “Do you know anything? I asked you a question.”
However, the reporter shot back with another question, “How long have you been in office?”
“I’ve been in office 11 years,” Cruz said.
After some cross-talk, the senator fired back, “You don’t get to argue with me. You asked your question — you asked your question. You wanna hold a press conference? You can do it over there. You wanna hold a press conference? You can do it over there.”
“I’m gonna answer his question. The talking point of the Democrats, which this media reporter happily parrots, is, ‘Gosh, the problem can’t be fixed!’ There’s one little problem with that. It is an utter and complete lie,” he added.
Watch the video below:
@tedcruz excoriates reporter for asking what Republicans have done to ease the southern border crisis.
— Kaelan Deese (@KaelanDC) May 12, 2023
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Cruz says, citing the record-low number of crossings during the Trump years. @dcexaminer pic.twitter.com/sJFtp8Lpym
Cruz went on:
“In 2020, the last year of the Trump presidency, we had the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years. You ask, what I have done? I’ve championed the men and women of Border Patrol. I’ve championed securing the border. I’ve championed ‘Remain in Mexico.’ And we turned this problem around and solved it.”
Finally, he said, “Joe Biden inherited the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years. And the first day in office, he made political decisions to cause this problem. And you should be ashamed of yourself cause you’re a reporter and you’re not reporting facts, you’re telling lies. Joe Biden made a political decision.”
The exchange came just hours before the pandemic-era Title 42, which allowed officials to quickly expel migrants, was set to expire. Title 42 is ending as the public health emergency for COVID-19 has lapsed.
Officials are bracing for the end of the policy to usher in a wave of illegal border crossings with one estimate suggesting there could be 13,000 people crossing the border every day. Even before the policy expired, Fox News reported Border Patrol officials encountered 10,000 migrants crossing the border three days in a row
The 2021 fiscal year set a new record as Border Patrol officials detained 1.7 million migrants at the border.
However, that record was shattered by more than a million in the 2022 fiscal year as officials detained 2.76 million migrants at the border.