Cruz bill moves migrants to Democratic-led areas

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has filed a bill to establish ports of entry in Martha’s Vineyard, Palo Alto, Calif., and other coastal cities, a bit of legislative trolling that the Texas Republican says is an effort to “alleviate the massive overload at the southern border by establishing new ports of entry in Democrat-led communities.”

The bill — a messaging effort unlikely to go far in the Democratic-led Congress — would direct the Homeland Security Department to transfer migrants from Texas border towns to 13 new ports of entry, including Cambridge, Mass., home of

Harvard University, and Rehoboth Beach, Del., a regular vacation spot for President Joe Biden.

“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,” Cruz said.

The bill is the latest example of Cruz and other Republicans seeking to keep the spotlight on the border, where federal officials have posted unprecedented numbers of encounters with migrants this year. Biden has said he is working to rebuild an immigration system left in shambles by former President Donald Trump, while Republicans say he refuses to take the issue seriously.

Democrats were quick to pan Cruz’s bill. U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass., whose district includes Nantucket, another city that Cruz would target, called it a “lame political stunt.”

“Why is it that whenever Ted Cruz is facing a crisis in Texas, his mind seems to wander to vacation destinations?” Keating tweeted. “First it was Cancún, now it’s Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.”

Cruz drew attention when he flew to the Mexican resort city during the winter freeze that paralyzed the state in February.