Wednesday at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) confronted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson about the increase of unaccompanied minors illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border by calling it a “direct consequence” of President Barack Obama’s executive version of the DREAM Act.
Cruz said “In 2011, there were roughly 7,000 unaccompanied minors who were apprehended, In 2012, that number rose to 14,000. In 2013, it rose to 24,000. And, in 2014, your agency is estimating it is going to be as high as 90,000. In 2015, the administration is estimating that it will rise all the way to 145,000.”
Cruz also reported that estimates from the Obama administration suggest that 145,000 unaccompanied minors will be apprehended in 2015. He read a constituent letter sent from Brooks County, TX stating that “in one week of last July, I personally rescued 15 people…that were lost and close to dying from dehydration and heat exhaustion,” and “129 bodies of deceased illegal aliens” were found on private ranches in the county in 2012 alone.
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