Ted Cruz Says Kamala Harris Wants to ‘Invade’ U.S. With Illegal Immigrants

Kamala Harris would double the number of undocumented immigrants entering the U.S. if elected, according to Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Immigration has remained a critical issue throughout the 2024 presidential election, ranking behind only the economy in a recent poll of voters’ top priorities conducted for Newsweek. While Harris has attempted to adopt a more hardline stance on the issue, blaming Trump for “killing” the bipartisan bill that she believes would have secured the southern border, voters appear to be backing Trump’s proposals and track record on immigration.
“If Kamala wins, god help us, the numbers will skyrocket,” Ted Cruz said, during the most recent episode of his Verdict podcast. “We have seen 11.5 million people in the last four years. If Kamala is president for another four years, 11.5 will become 25 or 30 million. That is their objective: to invade this country with what they see as future Democrat voters.”
Newsweek reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.
Cruz, who is campaigning for reelection against Democrat Colin Allred, previously made the claim that “11.5 million people have crossed our border illegally under Joe Biden,” during his speech at the Republican National Convention in July. Newsweek previously determined that the figure was misleading, and relied on a misinterpretation of migrant “encounters” at the southern border since January 2021, as recorded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
If true, the 11.5 million figure would also dwarf the total 11 million migrants Pew Research Center estimated were living in the U.S. in 2022, based on the most recent American Community Survey.
Cruz said that Trump, meanwhile, would start securing the border on his first day in office.
“This is not going to take a year, I don’t even believe it’s going to take six months,” he said. “This will happen in January and February of next year.”
Cruz said that Trump would end catch and release – the practice of releasing certain immigrants who are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security pending their immigration court proceedings – on Jan. 20, and that the number of border crossings would “plummet” as a result.
“Why? Because the single most important determinant of illegal immigration is one single question – it’s a policy question – what happens when an illegal immigrant is apprehended?” Cruz said. “If the answer is they’re put on a plane and sent home, the numbers plummet.”
Cruz said that he was “60-40” sure that Trump would defeat Harris, but that even these odds “scare the hell” out of him.
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