In a Monday letter to the White House, Sen. Ted Cruz slammed President Biden over his unwillingness to allow reporters and cameras to document the operations of Customs and Border Protection during the ongoing crisis at the southern border.
Posted to Twitter by Kris Van Cleave, Sen. Cruz’s letter mentioned an upcoming trip he and 14 of his colleagues will be taking to the border, ultimately calling on the president to reverse his decision and allow media to travel with the group.
.@SenTedCruz calls on White House to stop “hiding the truth from the American people” & allow reporters access to the situation at the border. “The press and the American people deserve...themselves with the help of reporters who are free and independent from your administration” pic.twitter.com/h7M2jUXQy5
— Kris Van Cleave (@krisvancleave) March 22, 2021
In an effort to clearly contextualize the crisis, Sen. Cruz begins the letter highlighting remarks made in 2019 by former Obama DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson. “I know that 1,000 [apprehensions per day] overwhelms the system and I cannot begin to imagine what 4,000 a day looks like.”
To this, Sen. Cruz comments, “But in response to your administration's policies and rhetoric promising exceedingly lax enforcement and the path to citizenship for every illegal alien. Border Patrol agents are repeatedly apprehending 4,500 to 6,000 illegal aliens per day.”
Speaking of his trip to the border later this week, Cruz stresses, “But it is not enough for members of the Senate to see what is happening -- the American people must see. This is why I requested that members of the media be allowed to join us. But your administration clearly and emphatically refused to offer press access. This is outrageous and hypocritical.”
The senator from Texas goes on to recall earlier comments made by the administration on both their self-professed “deep respect for the role of free and independent press,” and their commitment to the principles of “openness and transparency.”
“But now, when your administration faces a crisis of your own making,” writes Cruz, “you are refusing to allow the very transparency you promised that you would and that you demanded from prior administrations.”
Getting to the heart of the issue, the two term senator explains, “Denying the press the ability to observe, film and report on the conditions at the border is not openness or transparency – it is hiding the truth from the American people. The press and the American people deserve more than denials and excuses from a podium. They deserve to see and understand the crisis for themselves with the help of reporters who are free and independent from your administration.”
Ultimately, Sen. Cruz called on the president to reverse his decision and “commit to allowing free and fair reporting on the crisis at the border.”