Cruz yearns for migrants to breathe free … on the Cape and Islands
Texas senator wants to give blue states a taste of border life
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said it’s time Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Cambridge and other blue cities “where Democratic elites host cocktail parties” share in the immigration crisis at the southern border.
Cruz’s so-called “Stop the SURGE” Act calls for 13 new ports of entry to be established by the Department of Homeland Security where illegal immigrants entering the United States from Texas would be transferred for processing.
“I am introducing this crucial legislation to alleviate the massive overload at the southern border by establishing new ports of entry in Democrat-led communities such as North Hero, Vermont, where Bernie Sanders spends his summers, and Martha’s Vineyard, where Democrat elites host their cocktail parties,” the Texas Republican said.
In addition to the three ports in Massachusetts, three are in California, two in New York, two in Rhode Island (Newport and Block Island), and one each in Connecticut, Delaware and Vermont.
The plan fails to address how the feds would transport immigrants from the southern border, or cover the cost of opening new ports.
Cruz cut to the chase on Fox News saying he’s proposing the change “so rich Democrats can be sitting there and suddenly see 10, 20, 30, 50,000 illegal immigrants, like we’re seeing in Texas on a daily basis.”
“If Washington Democrats had to endure even a fraction of the suffering South Texas families, farmers, ranchers, and small businesses have had to face, our nation’s immigration laws would be enforced, the wall would be built, and the Remain in Mexico policy would be reimplemented,” he said.
But Cape Cod and Islands state Sen. Julian Cyr, a Democrat, said his district — which is suffering from a labor shortage — would “welcome the opportunity to have more people come to our region and work and live.”
“Let’s figure out how we can welcome these people, get them settled and on the pathway to becoming American citizens,” he said. “If we can play a part in welcoming them, we’d love to.”
Despite its upper-crust reputation, Cyr said Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are diverse communities. Nantucket’s public schools are over 50% students of color, many from families who immigrated here, the Truro senator said.
“The implication that Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are these tony places where only the most prevailed folks live just shows Sen. Cruz doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Cyr told the Herald.
Cruz, who was born in Canada to a Cuban father and Delaware-born mother, has been a frequent critic of Biden’s border strategy, blasting the president he says has “willingly surrendered the United States’ southern border to dangerous criminal cartels.”
All of the communities included in Cruz’s plan voted for President Biden by wide margins in the 2020 presidential election and are known for their liberal politics and upscale lifestyle.
Former President Barack Obama hosted his 60th birthday party at his sprawling compound on Martha’s Vineyard in August. The guest list at the high-profile affair included Democratic stalwarts like climate czar John Kerry as well as A-list celebrities like Jay-Z and Beyonce.
The Haiti earthquake has exacerbated the situation at the border, where Customs and Border Patrol has seen a 17% jump in the number of migrants it encounters along the border compared to 2019.
In fiscal 2021, CPB reported more than 1 million encounters compared with 851,513 in 2019.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, is appealing after the Biden administration last month denied the Lone Star State a federal emergency declaration arguing “the federal government failed to enforce immigration laws, and in particular, failed to halt illegal crossings” that has led to a crush of immigrants illegally crossing the border, setting up encampments and draining Texas resources