Republican Senator Ted Cruz tells Newsweek that the Biden administration should look to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to help prevent the illegal immigration surge affecting the United States.
Venezuelan migrancy has escalated under the Biden administration, increasing from 50,499 encounters in 2021 to 189,520 in 2022 and 334,913 last year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. Between October and January in fiscal year 2024, there have been 164,520 illegal entries by Venezuelans.
In October, the U.S. State Department announced it would deport Venezuelan migrants from the U.S. if they crossed the border illegally and had no lawful basis to remain in the country, as part of what Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas described as an "unprecedented level of migration throughout our hemisphere." That announcement came about two weeks after the Biden administration announced the granting of temporary legal status to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans already in the U.S., as a means of allowing them to work.
"There's no doubt standing strong against Maduro and working to topple Maduro—who is an illegitimate leader and a tyrant and a despot, who is oppressing the people of Venezuela—would be a dramatic improvement for the people of Venezuela and for the world," Cruz told Newsweek.
The Donald Trump administration "was leaning in aggressively using sanctions and other leverage to try to press Maduro to step down and came very close to succeeding," Cruz added.
Just prior to leaving office, Trump—by way of the U.S. Treasury Department—sanctioned three Venezuelan individuals, 14 business entities and six ships in relation to oil and Maduro's general regime.
"The United States remains committed to targeting those enabling the Maduro regime's abuse of Venezuela's natural resources," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said when the sanctions were imposed.
Cruz said that Biden replaced tough sanctions "with a consistent policy of appeasement" that has resulted in more oppression by Maduro towards his own citizens, leading to vast numbers of Venezuelans seeking refuge in the U.S.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.
Cruz, like other Republicans, also had strong statements toward the Biden administration regarding the murder of University of Georgia student Laken Riley.
Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan and illegal immigrant, was arrested on February 23 in connection with the death of the 22-year-old nursing student. He has been charged with malice murder, aggravated battery, felony murder, false imprisonment, aggravated assault, kidnapping and concealing the death of Riley.
"The Biden administration needs to enforce our immigration laws. President Biden paroled that vicious murderer [Ibarra]. He was apprehended in El Paso, and he should have been deported at the time, but Joe Biden made the decision to release him. He was then apprehended again in New York City for endangering the welfare of a child, and New York released him," Cruz said.
He added: "And because New York City, as a sanctuary city, declined to inform federal immigration officials, he could have been incarcerated then or could have been and should have been deported then, but, instead, Democrats in Washington and New York repeatedly let this guy go, and tragically a beautiful 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia lost her life as a result."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
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