Cruz Demands Answers About Temporarily Shuttered International Railway Crossings in Texas, Diverted CBP Resources to Process Illegal Aliens

WASHINGTON, D.C.– U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sent a letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, demanding answers about U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s decision to temporarily close two international railway crossing bridges in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, and divert CBP resources to help process illegal aliens, who are unlawfully entering the U.S. in record numbers. Sen. Cruz asked for answers about who made these decisions, what led to the decisions, and how CBP plans to prevent this from happening again.

Closing these international railway crossings delayed hundreds of thousands of tons of consumer and agriculture goods from traveling between the U.S. and Mexico. This is the second time since September that DHS has closed an international bridge in response to uncontrolled numbers of illegal aliens.

In the letter, Sen. Cruz wrote,“…by shutting down legal border crossings to accommodate the surge of illegal aliens flooding the border at Eagle Pass, you have created a national security threat of the highest degree. You are also signaling to the world that the United States government—and certainly your Department—will put the interests of foreign citizens over the needs of American people and businesses. Furthermore, by ceding operational control of our southern border to criminal cartels that are ferrying terrorists, drugs, and dangerous criminals, you have effectively turned Border Patrol into a travel agency rather than a law enforcement organization. It goes without saying that this is an outrage and a total breakdown of law-and-order.”

Read the full letter here.

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