Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said President Obama was too busy fundraising to deal with an influx of child immigrants trying the cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
“It is scandalous that the president has more time to be fundraiser in chief than he does to be commander in chief,” Cruz said on the Senate floor Thursday. “He cannot be bothered to address the human suffering.”
{mosads}Cruz chided Obama for visiting Texas and California to attend fundraising events but not stopping to see the thousands of immigrant children from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala being held at border detention facilities.
The White House has asked for $3.7 billion to provide legal aid and temporarily house and feed the children, but Republicans are insisting that immigration reforms be attached to the emergency spending measure.
Cruz has introduced a bill that he wants attached to any spending. It would defund the Obama administration program that allows some illegal immigrants brought to the country by their parents before 2007 to forestall their deportations.
“The only way to stop this humanitarian crisis is to stop President Obama’s amnesty,” Cruz said. “Nothing in the president’s proposal does anything to solve the problem.”
Cruz said his bill was needed because the Senate has lain down and meowed “like kitty cats” instead of standing up to Obama’s “lawless” executive actions.
“it is unprecedented to have a president so blatantly ignore the rule of law,” Cruz said. “But it is also unprecedented to have the Senate lie down and meow like kitty cats.”
Cruz said he would introduce yet another bill this week that included the previous language but added provisions to reimburse states using deploying National Guard troops to the border and amend a 2008 human trafficking law that slows deportation for the Central American children.
“Mark my words, President Obama wants these children to stay,” Cruz said. “If you grant amnesty, all it will do is incite more children to be victimized.”
On Wednesday, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) introduced S. 2648, which would give the administration $2.7 billion to address the issue this year, but she didn’t include any GOP immigration measures.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said he wants to hold a vote on Mikulski’s bill before the Senate leaves for August recess.