Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took to Twitter this week to expose a disturbing encounter he and other senators had with human smugglers at the Southwest U.S. border amid the ongoing migrant crisis.
The GOP Senate delegation, led by Cruz, joined patrol agents on the border on Thursday to tour the border and get a first-hand account of what agents are dealing with as thousands of illegal aliens continue to stream across from Mexico and Central America. During the three hours Senators spent with agents on their night shift, Cruz filmed what he and border agents described as cartel members and human traffickers taunting law enforcement from across the Rio Grande.
We encountered human traffickers & cartel members tonight, yelling at us across the Rio Grande and preparing to cross. #BidenBorderCrisis pic.twitter.com/yXl3AyUIPd
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 26, 2021
"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 under the current policies of the Biden administration they can flood over here," Cruz said in a video posted to Twitter early Friday morning.
Live footage from the banks of the Rio Grande.#BidenBorderCrisis pic.twitter.com/aO4EyANrRQ
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 26, 2021
"They're getting paid $4-5000 a person to smuggle them into this country and our policies, when they smuggle them in, the Biden administration releases them," Cruz added.
While disturbing, the brazenness of human smugglers taunting border agents and openly flouting U.S. immigration law isn't a secret. Video posted to social media earlier this month from Breitbart Texas' border team shows a massive line of illegal aliens, mostly women and children, lined up on the river bank waiting to be ferried across to the U.S. side by masked smugglers using an inflatable raft.
RELATED: Report: No. of Migrant Kids Being Held At the Border Under Biden Has TRIPLED In Two Weeks
Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), who was among GOP delegation, detailed the experience on Twitter, describing the situation as a “crisis.”
Border Patrol is overwhelmed, overworked, & discouraged by new policies. Agents took us through a dangerous path to the Rio Grande where we could hear the Cartel members taunting us across the river. Human trafficking, child abuse, & drug smuggling are rampant. This is a crisis.
— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) March 26, 2021
Customs and Border Protection encountered more than 100,000 migrants in February, with the March total expected to exceed that number, according to Fox News.
During President Biden’s first press conference on Thursday, a reporter asked if the administration would be transparent on the border crisis and allow media access. While Biden pledged transparency, he seemingly dodged the question on media access.