Murphy, Cruz clash on Twitter over payments to immigrants
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz have clashed on Twitter over negotiations between lawyers representing immigrant families and the U.S. Justice Department over a proposal to give members of each separated family as much as $450,000 per child, as well as jobs and pathways to citizenship.
While the negotiations remain active, and President Joe Biden said this week the $450,000 payments would not happen, the conservative-Republican Cruz, possibly eyeing a run for the White House in 2024, took to Twitter to blast the proposal, telling his 4.6 million followers that Murphy was wrong to say the proposal did not exist.
“Dem spin machine is really bad at it. @ChrisMurphyCT falsely claims it’s ‘just plain made up,’” Cruz posted on Thursday, quoting a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday that the Biden administration was in negotiations with families separated during the Trump presidency to award “around” $450,000 per person.
“This isn’t true,” Murphy tweeted to his 1 million followers. “It’s made up. Just plain made up. But @tedcruz has a big following and so when he says things people believe him.”
On Wednesday, Biden responded to a reporter’s question by saying such a payment “is not going to happen,” prompting the American Civil Liberties Union to warn that the president might be on the verge of abandoning a pledge to help separated families.
“President Biden may not have been fully briefed about the actions of his very own Justice Department as it carefully deliberated and considered the crimes committed against thousands of families separated from their children as an intentional governmental policy,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said. “We respectfully remind President Biden that he called these actions ‘criminal’ in a debate with thenPresident Trump, and campaigned on remedying and rectifying the lawlessness of the Trump administration.”
The White House on Thursday walked back Biden’s earlier statement on the active negotiations with lawyers for immigrant families.
"If it saves taxpayer dollars and puts the disastrous history of the previous administration’s use of zero tolerance and family separation behind us, the president is perfectly comfortable with the Department of Justice settling with the individuals and families who are currently in litigation with the United States government," a White House deputy press secretary told reporters, as reported by The Hill news site .
Cruz’s Twitter feed got more political when he posted a reference to the lingering criticism against the president’s son Hunter Biden, whom Donald Trump tried to make a
political issue for his work for a Ukrainian company when Joe Biden was vice president under Barack Obama.
“So @JoeBiden wants to give $450k to every illegal immigrant,” Cruz posted. “And Hunter Biden paintings ‘sell’ for $500k each. Perfect solution: give a Hunter Biden painting to every illegal immigrant. A Win-Win!” The tweet concluded with a smiley face.