Ted Cruz wants to be a populist. But he can’t get it right.

Politics
Ted Cruz Doubles Down on Flying Migrants to Martha's Vineyard
By Darragh Roche On 9/17/22
https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-doubles-down-flying-migrants-marthas-vineyard-1743898

Senator Ted Cruz has doubled down on sending undocumented migrants to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts and suggested that thousands more should be sent there.

The Republican told Fox News on Friday that he commended GOP Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida for sending undocumented migrants to "blue cities" and that they needed to do more.

DeSantis has faced strong criticism in recent days for flying migrants to Martha's Vineyard, while Cruz on Friday shared a list of places he believes migrants should be sent next. Abbott has sent migrants on buses to Washington, D.C. as well as New York and Chicago.

"Today has really illustrated what screaming hypocrites the Democrats are," Cruz told Fox News' Sean Hannity.

Cruz said that "Democrats did not think it was a humanitarian crisis when we pulled over 50 bodies and body bags out of a truck in Texas of illegal immigrants who died because the smugglers let them die of heat exposure."

"And yet suddenly, 50 illegal immigrants show up in lily white Martha's Vineyard, where rich liberals and billionaires sip Chardonnay. And it is World War III. They lose their stuff all over the place. And it just shows what utter nonsense it was," the senator said.

He went on to suggest that governors like Abbott and DeSantis should send more migrants to blue states and cities.

"Tomorrow, Martha's vineyard needs a 100," he said. "The next day they need 200. The next day they need a thousand. DC says it's a crisis to get 6,000? They need 10,000, they need a 100,000, they need 500,000 because Joe Biden has allowed 4.2 million people to come in illegally."

Later in the interview, Cruz said: "Right now, the biggest human trafficker on the face of the planet is Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. He has transported hundreds of thousands, millions of illegal aliens populating them now, putting many of them in red states."

"He's happy to put them in red states where it's not the rich peoples' concerns, it's the little peoples' concerns," he said.

Cruz tweeted a list of places where he believes migrants should be sent earlier on Friday. Those locations included Palo Alto, California, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Immigration lawyers are now seeking an injunction to prevent migrants being flown to cities around the country. They accuse DeSantis of violating due process and the civil rights of the migrants sent to Massachusetts. Their request will be heard in federal court next week.

President Biden criticized Abbott and DeSantis in remarks on Thursday

"Republicans are playing politics with human beings, using them as props," the president said.

"We have a process in place to manage migrants at the border," Biden said. "Republican officials should not interfere with that process by waging these political stunts."

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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol to discuss immigration at the southern border on June 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. Cruz has doubled down on sending undocumented migrants to blue cities. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
 
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