A video claiming to show a large group of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has sparked outrage among MAGA politicians and activists.
The video, posted by Fox News journalist Bill Melugin, shows a crowd of people standing together in groups. Melugin said the footage was shared to him by a contact from Eagle Pass, Texas, and that the people were migrants waiting to be processed by Border Patrol “after they crossed illegally today.” Newsweek has emailed representatives from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday to comment on this story. We have as yet been unable to verify the circumstances of the footage.
Immigration and the border has emerged as a key political issue ahead of next year’s presidential election, with President Joe Biden facing bipartisan backlash over soaring numbers of migrants entering the country. There were more than 2.475 million encounters at the southern border in the fiscal year 2023, an increase from about 2.378 million in fiscal year 2022, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Arizona Senate hopeful and former TV anchor Kari Lake shared the video on X, formerly Twitter, and wrote, “Deadly, Destructive, Dead-end Democrat policies caused this,” before adding, “Let’s vote to put America first in November.”
Republican Senator Ted Cruz posted: “This is outrageous,” he said. “Democrats have allowed an invasion to go unchecked at our southern border.
“Every single Democrat politician is responsible for this. Hold them all accountable,” Cruz added.
This is outrageous. Democrats have allowed an invasion to go unchecked at our southern border.
Every single Democrat politician is responsible for this. Hold them all accountable. https://t.co/jMwZWyHs7P
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 19, 2023
Monica Crowley, former assistant secretary of the Treasury, wrote: “The ongoing intentional destruction of America.”
David Giglio, a Republican candidate for next year’s House of Representatives elections, wrote: “Send them all back and implement a complete moratorium on all forms of immigration until the border is closed, the wall is finished, eVerify is the law of the land, and new system/process is put into place.”
It comes as GOP frontrunner Donald Trump unveiled plans to have federal law enforcement protect the southern border and relocate troops stationed overseas during a Nevada rally on Sunday.
“I will shift massive portions of federal law enforcement to immigration enforcement, including parts of the DEA, ATF, FBI and DHS,” Trump said in Reno. “And I will make clear that we must use any and all resources needed to stop the invasion of our country, including moving thousands of troops currently stationed overseas in countries that don’t like us.”
Meanwhile, in a New Hampshire rally on Saturday, Trump said immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” in comments that led Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa to accuse Trump of having “parroted Adolf Hitler.” The former president has previously denied his rhetoric has anything to do with the German dictator.
On Monday, Texas enacted a law that will allow police officers to arrest those crossing the border, with punishments ranging from fines to jail time. It will come into effect in March 2024.
Photo by John Moore/Getty Images
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.