Ted Cruz says Democrats see illegal immigrants as potential voters, won't shut down border

Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz says that while the Biden administration could shut the border down and solve the crisis, the Democrats see the illegal immigrants crossing the border as potential voters in upcoming elections. 

"I get asked all the time, 'why on earth would the Democrats allow this invasion at our southern border?'" Cruz asked during a Just The News-Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) television special last week.

"And the answer is, they look at every one of those 10.7 million illegal immigrants, and they see them as future Democrat voters," he continued. "They want them to vote."

Illegal immigration has been a hot topic over the past few years with the Biden administration. Recently, the murder of University of Georgia student Laken Riley by an illegal alien from Venezuela has caused prominent Republicans to call for action from the Biden administration. 

"The only way to change this is to elect Donald Trump as president, to elect a Senate majority," Cruz said regarding closing down the border. "I think we've got a great opportunity to elect a Senate Majority and to elect a House majority."

Former acting Secretary of the Homeland Security Department Chad Wolf said that Biden absolutely has the authority to shut down the border without requiring congressional action, but it won't. 

"He's choosing not to," Wolf said. "And I think the American people are starting to starting to recognize that the president through his own policy decisions is choosing not to secure this border."

Texas has been on the frontlines of the border fight, with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and GOP Gov. Greg Abbott launching an agressive state effort – known as "Operation Lone Star" – to keep out illegal migrants and contraband that includes razor wire and river buoys.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court last month said Texas cannot block federal agents from the border, effectively maintaining a long-running precedent that the federal government – not individual states – has authority to enforce border security.

Paxton said that while Texas is in the middle of handling the case on the merits, border patrol has not cut down any wired fences since the Supreme Court's ruling. 

"I think the Border Patrol said 'Enough is enough. We're not going to do damage property,"' Paxton said. "So even though the Biden administration may want them to damage property, there's been some stoppage.........they're not coming in doing anymore. If they were, it wouldn't stop us from putting it right back up. There's no injunction against us."

Wolf said that national security threats and are valid concerns as the border continues to stay open. 

"I point out two specific things that I continue to be really concerned about," he said. "One is the national security threats that we see coming across that border. And I would also say the public safety threats. Those are hardened criminals coming across. Those are known or suspected terrorists that have been apprehended over the last three years."

The Homeland Security Department revealed last month that the backlog of tracking and vetting illegal aliens inside the U.S. has nearly doubled under Biden to over six million while arrests of suspected terrorists and violent offenders have also exploded.