Ted Cruz reports from the border: Cartels are 'taunting' American Border Patrol

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Thursday night shared video from the southern border that appears to show individuals with flashlights on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande river yelling at the Americans on the other side. Cruz said these were drug cartel members and human smugglers taunting Border Patrol agents.

Cruz and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) led a Senate delegation to the U.S.-Mexico border this week to observe how federal law enforcement is handling the recent migrant surge. In a tweet, Cruz said, "We encountered human traffickers & cartel members tonight, yelling at us across the Rio Grande and preparing to cross."

"So it's past midnight, I'm standing on the shore of the Rio Grande — the water is right behind me. I'm down at the Texas border along with 18 senators. We made the trip to see the crisis that is playing out," Cruz said in a second video.

Cruz described visiting "overrun" detention facilities operated by CBP used to hold migrants who were apprehended attempting to cross into the United States illegally. Cruz said he saw families, including mothers nursing infants, "housed in outdoor holding pens where they were sleeping on the floor."

Customs and Border Protection reported encountering over 100,000 migrants at the southern border in February, the highest number for the month of February since 2006. There are more than 15,000 unaccompanied minor children in the custody of the federal government

Pointing across the Rio Grande river, Cruz said his delegation saw drug cartel members and human traffickers waving flashlights, "yelling and taunting Americans, taunting the Border Patrol."

He blamed the Biden administration's policies for encouraging illegal immigration and strengthening the cartels.

"They know that under the current policy of the Biden administration they can flood over here — they're getting paid $4,000-$5,000 a person to smuggle them into this country," Cruz said. "And our policies, when they smuggle them in, the Biden administration releases them."

"This is a humanitarian crisis, it's a public health crisis," Cruz continued, noting that many of the illegal immigrants being released by the Biden administration are testing positive for COVID-19 "at a seven times higher rate than the American population."

"It's a national security crisis. And it's time for the Biden administration to put an end to it and stop sanctioning lawless chaos on our southern border."