Photo via @QasimRashid/Twitter, nrkbeta/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
April 1, 2021, 11:19 am
Senator Ted Cruz went and poked the bear again on Twitter in response to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explaining that she and other progressive Democrats have been fighting their own party in their funding of ICE and CBP as they have increasingly rounded up and caged migrants and asylum-seekers. Cruz went ahead and twisted this to claim that not only does she want to abolish ICE, but that somehow doing so would result in “full open borders.”
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“Full open borders. Which would make the #BidenBorderCrisis even worse,” he tweeted. “She says nothing else works. Really? Last year, we had the lowest illegal immigration IN 45 YEARS. This year, we have the highest in 20 years.”
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Not only did Ocasio-Cortez not say “nothing else works,” she did not and has never claimed to want “full open borders.” ICE was created in 2003 and prior to that, we definitely did not have “full open borders” in this country.
Further, the reason immigration to the U.S. was low last year might have something to do with a global pandemic restricting travel and a “remain in Mexico” policy by Trump that didn’t actually stop migration, just forced migrants to wait in dangerous conditions while the U.S. decided whether or not to allow them safety.
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Of course, AOC’s response was better.
“Ted, this is pretty rich coming from someone who fled their own home (and responsibilities) during an environmental crisis to cross the border and seek refuge in Mexico,” she wrote. “Also you funded cages, expanded cages, and yet you’re complaining about cages. You have no policy, just puff.”
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“Maybe Mexico shouldn’t let YOU in the next time you try to run away from your job to sip umbrella drinks in Cancún,” she added in a follow-up tweet.
Ocasio-Cortez is, of course, referring to the time that Cruz flew to Cancún in the middle of the massive power outage in Texas following unprecedented ice and snow storms that left people stranded and without heat in freezing temperatures and in some areas, without clean water. He then blamed his daughters and in a couple of days was making jokes about it.
“A reminder that your resignation is 84 days past due,” AOC concluded. “At least.”
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Republican scaremongering about increases in migration to the U.S. is nothing new. During the Trump administration, cries about “migrant caravans” were used as an excuse to build more of his border wall, which was never even close to finished and not at all paid for by Mexico. Now that Democrats are in power, it’s time to start up the “invasion” rhetoric again, which has deep roots in white supremacy.
*First Published: April 1, 2021, 11:19 am
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