Cruz says there's no social distancing in 'Biden cages,' calls border surge 'man-made' crisis

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called the surge of illegal activity at the southern border a "man-made crisis" by the Biden administration.

"It is a tragedy and it is a man-made crisis. This was avoidable. This was preventable and regardless of your party, Republican or Democrat, you should look at what's going on here and say enough is enough," Cruz said at a news conference on Friday during a visit to the border. 

Cruz and Texas Sen. John Cornyn led a delegation of Republican senators to view the conditions on the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas.

"All of us today witnessed the Biden cages. What is occurring here on the border is heartbreaking and it is a tragedy," Cruz said.

"We have an army of TV cameras here. It is striking that not a single one of these cameras is allowed in the Donna facility," he added, referring to the Biden administration prohibiting media access to facilities along the border.

"We requested that media accompany us in the facility. The Biden administration said no. The Trump administration allowed media inside facilities like that. The Obama administration allowed media inside facilities like that. The George W. Bush administration had. The Bill Clinton administration had but the Biden administration wants to hide what is going on here," he said.

Cruz said the Donna facility was built with a capacity of 250 but has nearly 4,000 migrants in it during the coronavirus pandemic.

"We saw cages after cages after cages of little girls, of little boys lying side by side touching each other; covered with reflective emergency blankets," said Cruz, who posted photos of his observations. "There was no six foot space, there was no three foot space, there wasn't a three inch space between the children lined up one after the other after the other."

Cruz said the GOP senators also encountered a group of children who just tested positive for COVID-19.

"The Donna facility alone reports roughly 10% of the individuals being held there are testing positive for COVID-19 at rates dramatically higher than the US population and the Biden administration is taking people who are testing positive for COVID-19 and locking them in cages side by side," he said. "This is inhumane. It is wrong and it is the direct consequence of policy decisions by the Biden administration to stop building the wall; to return to catch and release and to end the 'Stay in Mexico' policy."