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Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz praised Republican governors in Texas and Florida for transporting migrants to "blue states" but nonetheless admitted doing so is "illegal" amid outrage toward a recent political stunt in which Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis shipped migrants who'd arrived in Texas off to Massachusetts without letting them know where they were going.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is a Republican, not a Democrat and has served as Massachusetts' governor since he was elected in November of 2014. Despite this fact, Baker nor anyone else in Massachusetts was alerted in advance of the arrival of asylum seekers—reportedly from Venezuela—in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Speaking on Fox News, Cruz said the law was "clear" and a citizen could "easily be arrested" for transporting migrants." However, he still commended DeSantis and Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott for doing so.
Cruz, DeSantis and Abbott have long accused the Biden administration of ignoring a supposed "surge of migrants" who came to the border to request asylum. The fact Cruz broke from the typical GOP script and admitted the latter two men have likely broken laws was quite telling.
You can hear what Cruz said in the video below.
\u201cHannity bizarrely gets Ted Cruz to admit that transporting migrants across state lines is illegal and would result in his arrest for human trafficking if he did it\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1663378186
Last week, DeSantis sparked outrage after he took responsibility for shipping about 50 migrants—including families with young children—to Massachusetts.
According to reports, the migrants were shipped from Texas after being told they were headed to Boston where they expected to receive expedited work permits. Instead, they were flown to Martha's Vineyard—a longtime New England summer vacation spot located just south of Cape Cod—and no one on the island nor in Massachusetts' Republican Governor's office had any advance notice of their arrival.
Islanders were praised for helping the asylum seekers, offering them food, shelter and healthcare.
But Cruz was critical of these acts of goodwill and still praised DeSantis and Abbott, saying:
"I commend Greg Abbott for sending the immigrants to these blue cities, I commend Ron DeSantis for doing so, and they need to do more."
"Tomorrow, Martha's Vineyard needs a hundred. The next day they need two hundred. The next day they need a thousand."
When asked by Fox News personality Sean Hannity whether he would "likely be arrested for human trafficking" and whether it "would it be illegal to do that," Cruz said:
"For you, a citizen, you could easily be arrested, although to be honest, Joe Biden's Justice Department wouldn't arrest you."
Many criticized Cruz for talking out of both sides of his mouth.
\u201cDon\u2019t buy into this absolute crap-spewing Neanderthal. In one breath he says it\u2019s illegal, and then with a smirk and what looks like a case of gas pains, he wants to blame @POTUS. Deflection at its best.\u201d— Ultra Merrick \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Ultra Merrick \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1663533607
\u201cSo if I am to understand Ted Cruz & Sean Hannity, both Ron DeSantis & Greg Abbott are guilty of human trafficking & must be arrested & removed from their position of Governor.\n\nYet, MAGA GOP also say they didn\u2019t do anything wrong, back the blue & aren\u2019t fascists, just hypocrites.\u201d— The Jewish Ginger Resister (@The Jewish Ginger Resister) 1663488643
\u201cTed Cruz thought growing a beard would hide that ugly mouth of his but what comes out of it he just can\u2019t hide. #ugly #TedCruzIsAPOS #TedCruzIsTheWorst #GOPHumanTraffickers\u201d— Sharon Pat (@Sharon Pat) 1663440821
\u201cSo, according to Cruz, your only breaking the law if you are not a Republican member of Congress or a Republican Governor. Hmmm...\u201d— Paul F Borrusch (@Paul F Borrusch) 1663518167
\u201cYou can\u2019t fix this kind of stupid.\u201d— Michael Smith (@Michael Smith) 1663439757
\u201cHilarious to watch them consistently own themselves being hypocritical & unironically aware\ud83d\ude05\u201d— \ud83e\udd8bElle Duchess of Breckenridge\ud83e\udd8b (@\ud83e\udd8bElle Duchess of Breckenridge\ud83e\udd8b) 1663442336
\u201cGOP talking heads admitting their own are illegally trafficking children. What happened to #savethechildren lol.\u201d— Tankster (@Tankster) 1663447639
\u201cIt\u2019s a crime whether Liberals or Republicans, do it; but only Republicans seem to be doing it.\u201d— \ud83c\udf0aEyes Wide Open \ud83d\udd25 (@\ud83c\udf0aEyes Wide Open \ud83d\udd25) 1663465032
DeSantis made clear he intends to use “every penny” of the $12 million his state budgeted to relocate migrants via bus and plane to liberal states he feels are not addressing immigration concerns at the nation's southern border.
DeSantis previously complained many migrants who cross the border into Texas end up in Florida. He stated Florida government employees are stationed in Texas to "profile" any migrants who might be headed to Florida.
Earlier, California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom implored the Department of Justice (DOJ) to to investigate whether the migrants were lured to Martha's Vineyard based on false promises of employment.