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Ted Cruz posts video of moment Biden official tries to block him from taking pictures of migrants in overcrowded Texas border facility

  Ted Cruz has shared footage of the moment he said a Biden official attempted to prevent him from taking pictures at an overcrowded migrant...

 Ted Cruz has shared footage of the moment he said a Biden official attempted to prevent him from taking pictures at an overcrowded migrant facility. 

The senator and 18 of his GOP colleagues were visiting a shelter in the border city of Donna, Texas on Friday when a woman Cruz identified as a 'senior adviser' tried to block him from recording.

In the video shared on Twitter, the woman stands in front of a door and asks Cruz to 'please give dignity to the people' and 'not to treat the people this way.'

Cruz accuses the woman of having been ordered to stop the American people from seeing conditions at the facility. 'This is a dangerous place,' he says in the video.

Ted Cruz has shared footage of the moment he said a Biden official attempted to prevent him from taking pictures at an overcrowded migrant facility

Ted Cruz has shared footage of the moment he said a Biden official attempted to prevent him from taking pictures at an overcrowded migrant facility

The senator and 18 of his GOP colleagues were visiting a shelter in the border city of Donna, Texas on Friday when a woman Cruz identified as a 'senior adviser' tried to block him from recording

The senator and 18 of his GOP colleagues were visiting a shelter in the border city of Donna, Texas on Friday when a woman Cruz identified as a 'senior adviser' tried to block him from recording

Cruz spoke to Fox News on Sunday about the incident, saying the situation at the border, which has seen an influx of migrants crossing into the US since the inauguration of President Joe Biden, was 'the worst that I've ever seen it.'

'It is a full-blown crisis,' he added.

The shelter Cruz and his colleagues visited is reportedly at more than 1,000 percent capacity as it struggles to cope with the high numbers of new arrivals. 

Cruz said the Donna facility is designed to hold 1,000 people but under Covid restrictions has a capacity of 250. He said there were currently more than 4,000 people being housed in the facility. 

Cruz also claimed to Fox News that cartels were gaming Biden's migration system by 'renting' children to accompany across the border, and claiming to be related to them to secure asylum.

'Democrats like to pretend their open-borders policies are somehow humane.

'There's nothing humane about what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are doing at the border. They're subjecting kids to horrific abuse, they're endangering their lives in a pandemic by keeping them locked up in cages right on top of each other. 

'This is a humanitarian, health and national security crisis.'  

Cruz spoke to Fox News on Sunday about the incident, saying the situation at the border, which has seen an influx of migrants crossing into the US since the inauguration of President Joe Biden, was 'the worst that I've ever seen it'

Cruz spoke to Fox News on Sunday about the incident, saying the situation at the border, which has seen an influx of migrants crossing into the US since the inauguration of President Joe Biden, was 'the worst that I've ever seen it'

Before airing Cruz's footage, Fox News said it had sent a photographer to the migrant center with the delegation but he was 'banned,' according to host Maria Bartiromo. 

Despite promising 'transparency', Biden officials have so far refused to let journalists into the overcrowded Donna facility - as criticism surrounding the border crisis continues to grow. 

However, the Republicans refused to abide by the requests, instead sharing their images to social media.  

Indiana Sen. Mike Braun told The Washington Examiner that the order not to film or take photos came from a Biden aide who accompanied the group on the tour. 

'There was one of Biden's representatives. I felt sorry for the lady because she actually talked to me about deleting a picture, but by the time she got to me, all those other pictures were taken, and that shows you the hypocrisy,' Braun said on Saturday. 

He added that Border Patrol officials inside the shelter also urged the Republicans not to snap any images. 

'They were telling us that because they had to,' Braun claimed.  

'None of us would have gone down there if we were going to be muzzled,' Braun said.

Republican senators say Biden officials urged them to delete photos they took of an overcrowded migrant facility they toured at the southern border on Friday. Members of the group are seen in Texas on Friday

Republican senators say Biden officials urged them to delete photos they took of an overcrowded migrant facility they toured at the southern border on Friday. Members of the group are seen in Texas on Friday 

The Republicans refused to abide by the requests, instead sharing their images to social media.

The Republicans refused to abide by the requests, instead sharing their images to social media.

Despite promising 'transparency', Biden officials have refused to let journalists into the overcrowded Donna facility - particularly as criticism surrounding the border crisis continues to grow

Despite promising 'transparency', Biden officials have refused to let journalists into the overcrowded Donna facility - particularly as criticism surrounding the border crisis continues to grow

The senators said that 'pods' at Donna designed to hold 80 children are packed with more than 700

The senators said that 'pods' at Donna designed to hold 80 children are packed with more than 700

Ted Cruz tweeted photos from his tour of an overcrowded shelter for migrant teens in Donna, Texas; he toured the shelter with fellow Republican senators

Ted Cruz tweeted photos from his tour of an overcrowded shelter for migrant teens in Donna, Texas; he toured the shelter with fellow Republican senators

Cruz posted another pic from his tour; he's blasted the Biden administration for its border policy, saying it's led to a surge in migrants

Cruz posted another pic from his tour; he's blasted the Biden administration for its border policy, saying it's led to a surge in migrants

Republicans tour overcrowded migrant center in Rio Grande
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Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma and others shared heartbreaking images of a severely overcrowded holding facility in Donna, Texas, where Lankford said that 'pods' designed to hold 80 children are packed with more than 700.

'I know why President Biden doesn't want the media to be here - because we do have an open border,'Lankford stated on Friday.  

'If you were an unaccompanied minor, you were sent over to the Donna facility, which we went over and visited. That facility is designed for 80 people in a pod, and they had 709 people... literally wall to wall in every one of the little plexiglass cells that they have, and people flooding out into the hallway,' Lankford said. 


On Thursday alone, approximately 6,000 adults and children were apprehended along the southern border, according to a senior official - far more than during the busiest months of the Trump administration in 2019.

Biden has insisted that his policies are not responsible for the huge surge of illegal crossings at the border, and said that he is planning to open huge new facilities to house and process migrants.

'I've been working from the moment this started to happen to try to find additional access for children to be able to safely — not just children, but particularly children — to be able to safely be housed while we follow through on the rest of what's happening,' Biden said at a press conference on Thursday.

'That facility is designed for 80 people in a pod, and they had 709 people... literally wall to wall in every one of the little plexiglass cells that they have, and people flooding out into the hallway,' Senator Lankford said

'That facility is designed for 80 people in a pod, and they had 709 people... literally wall to wall in every one of the little plexiglass cells that they have, and people flooding out into the hallway,' Senator Lankford said

The Biden administration has not let reporters in the facility in Donna, Texas, but has let in lawmakers like Ted Cruz, who shared images such as the one above of children being held there

The Biden administration has not let reporters in the facility in Donna, Texas, but has let in lawmakers like Ted Cruz, who shared images such as the one above of children being held there

But Cruz and the other Republicans slammed conditions at the Donna facility as 'inhumane' and said the crisis would not end without stronger enforcement at the border and swift removal of those who cross illegally.

'All of us today witnessed the Biden cages. What is occurring here on the border is heartbreaking, and it is a tragedy,' Cruz said. 

'The Biden administration is taking people who are testing positive for COVID-19 and locking them in cages side by side. This is inhumane,' Cruz alleged. 

'There was no six foot space, there was no three foot space, there wasn't even a three inch space between children lined up one, after the other, after the other.'

Cruz said that 10 percent of the current population of the Donna facility currently tests positive for COVID-19. 

'It is wrong, and it is the direct consequence of policy decisions by the Biden administration to stop building the wall, to return to catch-and-release and to end the stay in Mexico policy.' 

Cruz said that the Biden administration had rejected his request to allow press representatives to accompany the delegation in the Donna facility - and pointed out that both the Trump and Obama administrations had allowed such media access. 

Illegal border crossing is on pace to surpass recent records and could reach a 20 year high, officials said

Illegal border crossing is on pace to surpass recent records and could reach a 20 year high, officials said

'The Biden administration wants to hide what is going on here,' Cruz said. 'The American people have a right to know what is happening here.' 

'This is a man-made crisis. It was avoidable, it was preventable, and regardless of your party if you're a Republican or a Democrat you should look at what is going on here and say enough is enough, this must stop,' he added.

The White House has said media will be allowed into facilities being run by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol but has not said when. A TV camera crew was allowed in a different facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, where children are being held in better conditions.

'I will commit to transparency, and - as soon as I am in a position to be able to implement what we are doing right now,' Biden said Thursday. Asked when that would be, he responded: 'I don't know, to be clear.' 

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) (red shirt) stand aboard a Texas Department of Public Safety boat for a tour of part of the Rio Grande on Friday. Local agencies such as DPS are assisting overwhelmed Border Patrol

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) (red shirt) stand aboard a Texas Department of Public Safety boat for a tour of part of the Rio Grande on Friday. Local agencies such as DPS are assisting overwhelmed Border Patrol


On Thursday night, Cruz posted videos showing him on the bank of the Rio Grande in the dark, surrounded by tall grass or weeds, watching what he claims were smugglers trying to get migrants across the water and into the U.S.


'That's Mexico right over there, and you can see there are three smugglers right there,' Cruz is heard saying in the video, 'standing on the Mexico side looking at us.'

He also claimed the smugglers were taunting the senators on the U.S. side. The footage is hard to see, showing grass and the dark river with a few flashes of light. Cruz said those were the smugglers' flashlights.

He posted another dramatic video, describing it as 'live footage from the banks of the Rio Grande,' that showed him standing on the river's edge, giving a report on what he and the Republicans saw on their midnight march. 

'So it's past midnight and I'm  standing on the shore of the Rio Grande, the water is right behind me down. I'm down on the Texas border along with 18 senators, we made the trip to see the crisis that is playing out,' Cruz said as he stood in the weeds on the shoreline.

Dogs could be heard barking in the background as he spoke. 

'On the other side of the river is Mexico,' Cruz noted. 'The other side of the river we have been listening to and seeing cartel members, human traffickers right on the other side of the river, waving flashlights yelling and taunting Americans, taunting the Border Patrol, because they know that under the current policy the Biden administration, they can flood over here.' 

Cruz was joined by fellow Texas Senator John Cornyn, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, Maine Senator Susan Collins, and others in his travels. 

Cornyn posted a photo of the group of lawmakers after their tour, writing 'Before we began our full day of touring critical areas around the southern border, the Senators I brought down to Texas wanted to thank the @CBPRGV midnight patrol for all the hard work they are doing to keep our nation safe amidst this crisis.'

And the Senate Republicans official Twitter account posted photos and an update from the expedition: '1:00AM on our southern border. 18 Senators are here with Border Patrol on their night shift. We saw the massive influx of migrant crossings. Countless women + children. We were heckled by cartels. This is a humanitarian crisis. And Joe Biden needs to address it immediately.'

Beto O'Rourke, the former Democratic congressman who lives in El Paso and lost his bid to unseat Cruz, retweeted it with a mocking reply: 'THANK GOD YOU SURVIVED THE HECKLING!' 

Democrats, who have blamed the Trump administration for problems at the border, blasted the trip as a 'political stunt.'

'In a desperate attempt to mislead the country, world-renowned political clown Ted Cruz and his hapless sidekick John Cornyn are bringing their show on the road with their latest political stunt,' the Democratic National Committee said in a statement on Friday.

'If there's one thing Ted Cruz knows how to do, it is to disingenuously grandstand for TV cameras. President Biden took more action to address immigration issues in one day than Senate Republicans have in the last four years. If Senator Cruz and his colleagues were serious, they'd be in Washington working with President Biden to be a part of the solution,' said DNC spokesperson Eduardo Silva. 


President Biden addresses surge of migrants at the border
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