Mayorkas LIED: Explosive Cross-Examination In The Senate Judiciary Committee

Summary

Summary of "Mayorkas LIED: Explosive Cross-Examination In The Senate Judiciary Committee"

Episode Details:

• Podcast: The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
• Host/Author: Premiere Networks, featuring host Ben Ferguson
• Release Date: March 29, 2023
• Description: Hosted by Ben Ferguson, this podcast episode delves into a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing where Senator Ted Cruz rigorously questions Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas regarding border security, human trafficking, and the administration's immigration policies.

---

Introduction

In this episode, Ben Ferguson provides an in-depth analysis of Senator Ted Cruz's intense cross-examination of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. The discussion centers on allegations that Mayorkas has been negligent and possibly deceitful regarding the state of the U.S. southern border under the Biden administration.

---

Key Topics and Discussions

1. Senator Cruz's Accusations Against Secretary Mayorkas

Senator Ted Cruz launches a stern critique of Secretary Mayorkas, accusing him of being a political operative who is deliberately facilitating open borders. He challenges Mayorkas on his inability to provide clear and direct answers regarding the border crisis.

• Quote:
  • [00:31] Senator Ted Cruz: "I think he doesn't care. I think he's a political operative... He views his job as expediting and facilitating open borders..."

2. Mayorkas's Evasive Responses

Throughout the hearing, Secretary Mayorkas consistently avoids answering direct questions, leading Cruz to label him as the "worst witness" he has ever encountered. This evasiveness is highlighted as a significant failure in accountability and transparency.

• Quote:
  • [03:25] Ben Ferguson: "Senator, it is shocking because when you hear this, this is the guy in charge of the border and he can't even answer this basic question."

3. Humanitarian Crisis and Security Concerns

Cruz emphasizes the severe humanitarian issues at the border, including deaths, suffering, and human trafficking. He accuses the Biden administration of prioritizing political agendas over the safety and well-being of both Americans and migrants.

• Quote:
  • [09:03] Senator Ted Cruz: "How many migrants have died under President Biden? 853. And by the way, here are the numbers that have died every year..."

4. Impeachment Discussions

The conversation transitions to the possibility of impeaching Secretary Mayorkas due to his alleged failures and disregard for federal laws concerning immigration and border security. Cruz advocates for impeachment as a means to hold Mayorkas accountable.

• Quote:
  • [40:36] Senator Ted Cruz: "Yes, yes, and hell yes. I believe they should impeach Alejandro Mayorkas."

5. Fentanyl Crisis Linkage

Cruz connects the border policy failures to the surge in fentanyl overdoses in the United States, attributing the drug problem to compromised border security measures.

• Quote:
  • [30:52] Senator Ted Cruz: "Last year, there were over 100,000 people who died of overdoses, the majority from Chinese fentanyl coming across our southern border."

6. Mayorkas's Interaction with Senator Durbin

An intriguing moment arises when Mayorkas seeks assistance from Senate Democratic Leader Dick Durbin during the hearing, which Durbin does not provide. Cruz interprets this as a sign of waning support among Senate Democrats.

• Quote:
  • [17:34] Senator Ted Cruz: "Mayorkas pleaded to Durbin to come in and save him, Durbin just looked at him and didn't do anything."

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

1. On Mayorkas's Alleged Indifference:

   • [00:31] Senator Ted Cruz: "I think he doesn't care... He views his job as expediting and facilitating open borders."

2. On Evasive Testimony:

   • [03:25] Ben Ferguson: "This was true of every other senator I saw. He believes his job as a witness is stand up and just read his political spin."

3. On Human Suffering:

   • [24:14] Senator Ted Cruz: "I've seen little girls who are pregnant because they were raped by the traffickers."

4. On Fentanyl Overdoses:

   • [30:52] Senator Ted Cruz: "Last year, there were over 100,000 people who died of overdoses, the majority from Chinese fentanyl coming across our southern border."

5. On the Need for Impeachment:

   • [40:36] Senator Ted Cruz: "I believe they should impeach Alejandro Mayorkas... He is a direct cause of the hundred thousand overdoses we had last year."

---

Insights and Analysis

• Accountability and Transparency: The episode underscores the critical need for government officials, especially those in high-stakes positions like Secretary of Homeland Security, to maintain transparency and accountability. Mayorkas's inability to provide straightforward answers raises concerns about the administration's commitment to addressing border issues effectively.

• Humanitarian and Security Implications: The discussions highlight the intertwined nature of humanitarian crises and national security. Cruz effectively connects border policy failures to broader issues like human trafficking, sexual violence, and the opioid epidemic, suggesting that lax border enforcement exacerbates these problems.

• Political Dynamics: The interaction between Mayorkas and Senator Durbin reveals potential fractures within the Senate Democratic leadership, indicating possible dissatisfaction or fatigue with handling the border crisis. This dynamic could influence future legislative and oversight actions.

• Call for Impeachment: Cruz's strong advocacy for impeachment reflects a growing sentiment among some Republicans that extreme measures are necessary to hold officials accountable. This stance may intensify partisan debates and impact the political landscape leading up to future elections.

---

Conclusion

This podcast episode presents a fervent critique of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by Senator Ted Cruz, focusing on perceived failures in managing the U.S. southern border. Through a detailed examination of the Senate hearing, Ben Ferguson highlights the gravity of the issues at hand, including human suffering, drug-related deaths, and the potential for high-level impeachments. The episode serves as a call to action for accountability and a reevaluation of current immigration policies to ensure the safety and well-being of both Americans and migrants.

---

Note: This summary is intended to provide an overview of the podcast episode and does not reflect the entirety of the discussion. For a complete understanding, listening to the full episode is recommended.

Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is verdict with Senator Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson with you. Senator, it was a unbelievable moment for you yesterday in the Senate as you were going back and forth questioning the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, my orcas, who really clearly, after you went through this with him, proved he doesn't know anything that's going on at this border. Was he lying to you, or do you actually believe he really doesn't know what's going on?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I think he doesn't care. I think he's a political operative. I think he's willing to follow the orders of the Biden White House. I think he is perfectly fine with open borders. Not only perfectly fine, I think he views his job as expediting and facilitating open borders, enabling illegal aliens to cross faster, maximizing the number of illegal aliens coming into this country. And I think he has no concern about the human tragedies, about the suffering that is resulting from his manifest dereliction of duty. I've never seen anything like it.

[Ben Ferguson]

I want to play some of the highlights for this and just some of the basic questions that you asked him dealt with basic things that this man should be able to answer. One of those was, you ask him a question of is there a crisis at the border? Take a listen for everybody that missed it. This was incredible.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Is there a crisis at our southern border?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator, there is a very.

That's a yes or no question.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Is there a crisis?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator, there's a very significant challenge.

I think. Your microphone is not on.

There is a very significant challenge that we are facing.

Yes or no, Is there a crisis?

I believe I've addressed that question.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

So you're refusing to answer?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator, there is a very significant challenge. And will you answer if there's a crisis? Therefore, we are dedicating the resources.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Okay, so you're refusing to answer. Well, Secretary Mayorkas, I'll tell you someone who is willing to answer, which is your and President Biden's Chief of the Border Patrol. In a sworn deposition in July of 2022, when asked, would you agree, Chief Ortiz, that the southern border is currently in crisis? Answer yes. Notice none of those wiggle words. None of that equivocation. One word, one syllable. Yes. Are you willing to speak with the same clarity as Chief Ortiz? Is there a crisis at our southern border? Yes or no?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator, I'm very proud to work alongside you.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Refuse to answer. Let me ask you the next question. Has the crisis at our southern border made Americans less safe? Yes or no?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator, we are dedicated to the safety.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Has the crisis made Americans less safe? I don't I don't want a discourse. It's a yes or no question.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator, we have a challenge of you.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Refuse to answer the question. Mr. Secretary, let me show you how someone doing his job answers a question in a straightforward manner. Chief Ortiz, is the crisis that is currently ongoing at the southern border making the border less safe for Americans and aliens alike. Answer yes, one word, one syllable, three letters. That's how someone answers a question and does their job. You're being a politician, misleading the American people. Let me give you a chance again. Will you show the same integrity Chief Ortiz shows? Is the crisis at the southern border making Americans less safe?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yes or no, Senator, we have 260,000.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

You refuse to answer the question. Let's move on.

[Ben Ferguson]

You hear it and it's shocking, Senator, because when you hear this, this is the guy in charge of the border and he can't even answer this basic question. And his job is not supposed to be a political operative job. Right. He's not supposed to be like, I'm a Democrat who's in charge of the Department of Homeland Security. Right.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

No, that's exactly right. What's utterly maddening is Mayorkas is a witness. He may be the worst witness I've ever seen. He will not answer a single question. Doesn't matter what you ask him. You could ask him what day it is, you could ask him what time of day it is, and he will say, senator, we want to protect America, blah, blah, blah, blah. He just reads his talking points. And it doesn't. I've never seen a witness. This was true in all of my questions. I had a 10 minute round. He wouldn't answer a single question I asked the whole time. That was true of every other senator I saw. He believes his job as a witness is stand up and just read his political spin. And look, one of the things that shows is it shows a contempt not just for Congress, but for the American people. The reason you have an oversight hearing is under the Constitution, under Article 1, Congress has the legislative authority and has oversight authority over the executive branch. And when senators are asking those questions, it's not just me sitting there like asking some questions, because I'm curious. I have a job to represent 30 million Texans. So when I'm asking that question, I'm trying to do my very best I can to represent what those Texans are feeling, what they're facing. I could tell you Texans know the answer. Is there crisis at our southern border? Hell yes. Actually, Texans, it would be two words, not one. And I would forgive a hell yes. Instead of a yes. But when he just shows contempt, he will not answer because it's all political spin. And, and, and he is, is not willing to answer to the American people.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's not just that he won't answer you and the oversight or the American people. It's the fact that he's sitting there almost like he thinks this is beneath him to be questioned. Yes, the arrogance that he showed. And I was watching, and by the.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Way, Merrick Garland does the same thing. The Attorney General Merrick Garland likewise won't answer a question. This Biden Cabinet embodies hubris. They embody dripping contempt and arrogance. Look, the last podcast we talked about John Kerry defending billionaires flying private jets to Davos, saying, well, you know, they work harder to save the world from climate change than most people, so they ought to be sitting there having great Poupon and champagne with their Corinthian leather, fancy private jets. I mean, it is, it is contempt that that characterizes the Biden Cabinet.

[Ben Ferguson]

It also reminded me a little bit of Foushee. Just the, oh yeah, the narcissistic attitude of this is my world, I have to check a box and come deal with you today. And I don't have to answer you or any of the American people. In other words, I'm not working for the American people. That seems to be what he thinks, is that he gets to do what he wants to do and he shouldn't have to answer to anyone.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He works for Joe Biden. He is a political operative. Joe Biden has handed the immigration agenda over to the radical open borders extreme left. They want as many illegal aliens as possible in America. And the amazing thing is they do not care. I have to tell you, you spend time on the southern border. I spend a lot of time on the southern border. The suffering, the deaths, the misery that comes from this, the fact that, look, this official Alejandro Mayorkas is responsible for that suffering and death. And I don't think he stays awake at night thinking about it. I don't think he worries about it at all. Even though Americans are dying, even though illegal immigrants are dying, even though children's are suffering. He's got a political partisan agenda and sadly, that's all that matters to him.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, you mentioned that. He doesn't seem to care. One of the questions you asked him, and I want to play this for people, were how many migrants died under Joe Biden. But before we get to that, want to tell you about our friends over at Chalk. If you're a guy and you're getting A little bit older, and you feel like you've lost a little bit of that edge, There is an answer. The patriots at Chalk are here to help real American men maximize their masculinity by boosting testosterone levels up to 20% over 90 days. Now, I've been taking the Chalk male vitality stack, and I can tell you it works. You can maximize your masculinity and. And say no to just feeling like you're getting older. Check them out. Go to chalk.choq.com. use the code, Ben. You'll get 35 off any chalk subscription for life, and you can cancel anytime. Chalk choq.com. use a promo code, Ben. Get back that edge. Fight back against the war on masculinity in today's society. Choq.com. senator, you. You asked my orcas about a basic question that he. I'm pretty sure, knows the answer to, and I think it goes to what you just said. He doesn't care about how many people die.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Listen, Mr. Mayorkas, has the crisis made aliens less safe? Yes or no?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator, we are seeking so.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

You won't answer that question either. It is. It's a yes or no. Has it made aliens less safe?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator, smugglers are exploiting.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Has the crisis made aliens. Yes. Less safe? Are you willing to answer it?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator, the smuggling organizations.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Okay, you're filibustering again. Let me ask you this question. How many migrants have died under President Biden?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator, your phrasing of the question is actually quite misleading.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

How many migrants died in 2022.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Approaching our southern border? Yes, precisely why we are seeking to exclude this.

Do you know the answer?

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Do you know how many died?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I do not.

You do not.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Of course you don't. I know how many died? 853. 853. And by the way, here are the numbers that have died every year. You go back to 1998, you see, it's consistently between 300, 400, 304 to 300 400. Suddenly, 20, 21, what happens? You get in office, and that red line are dead bodies. I've been on the Rio Grande, and I've seen dead bodies floating there who drowned because of your refusal to do your job. You don't even know how many have died. What do you say to the Texas farmers and ranchers who find pregnant ladies dead on their property, who find toddlers dead on their property? What do you say to them?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I say, that is why precisely, we are taking it to the smuggling organization.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

But you are not. That is simply not true.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Number two.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

It is Let me read from the Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal two weeks ago ran an article entitled. It's like a graveyard record. Numbers of migrants are dying at the border. The story begins with this chilling line quote, Eagle Pass, Texas. Local officials keep a refrigerated truck to hold the bodies of migrants who drown in the currents of the Rio Grande while trying to cross the border into the U.S. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that this article be entered into the record.

[Ben Ferguson]

Senator, it is like he just doesn't care. Which is so shocking to sit there and watch his facial expressions. He's numb to these, these stats. It doesn't matter to him.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I don't know how a Secretary of Homeland Security could not know the answer to that question. How many migrants died last year? It's 853. It's the highest in history. And he doesn't know. He doesn't care. I don't know that he's ever asked. I don't know that anyone's bothered to tell him. He feels no responsibility for him. And I gotta say, look, when you go down to the Rio Grande Valley, when I'm down there, I try to sit down with sheriffs, I try to sit down with law enforcement. I always sit down with border patrol. I sit down with farmers and ranchers. When you look in the eyes of farmers and ranchers, I've had them put photograph after photograph after photograph of dead bodies. They find dead bodies one after the other. Imagine this, I get them, they send me texts if I was out of my ranch today. Here, two dead bodies I found just abandoned on the ranch. Because these human traffickers, they are vicious criminals. They don't care if someone is weak, if someone's frail, if someone's sick, if a woman is pregnant and she's not able to keep up, you know what? They just abandoned them to die in the heat. And Mayorkas view is, oh well, tough luck. You can tell he's not doing anything to stop it and in fact he intends to continue it. So next year that number is going to be higher than 853. Because when you open up the border to the worst illegal immigration in the history of our country, you make the drug cartels and human trafficking cartels into massive multibillion dollar global enterprises. The election of Joe Biden, Joe Biden becoming president is the single best thing that has ever happened to the Mexican drug cartels in their lives. And Alejandro Mayorkas is the happy lackey, turning these vicious criminals into billionaires and forcing the border patrol to essentially be the Travel agents to be the. The last mile of the human trafficking network facilitating this. This horrific oppression center.

[Ben Ferguson]

There was something else that was interesting as I was watching this and I want to get your take. And that was. It seemed that my orcas came in not necessarily ill prepared, just not caring. Most of the time you get a briefing. If you are going before Congress, you would have the numbers that you just mentioned. You would have some stats and data. You would prepare for this. It was almost like he showed up and says, I don't have to prepare for this because I know ultimately what I'm doing now is going to keep happening regardless of what you asked me today.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, no, that's exactly right. I mean, it. Normally a cabinet member preparing for a Senate oversight hearing spends real time, spends several days, spends maybe a week preparing. Normally they have a briefing notebook in front of them with all sorts of stats. And so if you ask them a question, how many migrants died, they flip to a tab. They may not know the number off the top of their head, but they've got a tab. And they say, oh, well, in 2022, the number's 853. That. That happens in Senate hearings every day. That. That's what. Actually. A witness who is testifying, who's providing testimony, providing information. That's what they do. Mayorkas just sat there as a smug, content potentate with no sense. He owes nothing, he believes, to the Senate. He owes nothing to the law, he knows owes nothing to the American people. He is there to be a political lackey of the president and nothing else matters to him.

[Ben Ferguson]

You talk about the border. The border czar was supposed to be obviously the vice President of the United States of America, Biden, you know, who. Basically. Say that again.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Who? I'm sorry, who's that person?

[Ben Ferguson]

Oh, yeah, right, Exactly. Yeah. The vice President. America. Wasn't she supposed to be in charge? The border czar. Right.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I'm sorry, I don't know who that person is. She. She is not involved in the border.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, it's sad that you're joking this way because it's so factually accurate.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Sad thing is, I'm not joking. Mayorkas doesn't talk to Kamala Harris. Merrick Garland doesn't talk to Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris doesn't go to the border. She made a brief little photo stop in El Paso, but she's never been to the Rio Grande Valley. She has no idea what's going on. I mean, the only reason she was, quote, border czar is cause Joe Biden can't stand her. So he figures, okay, the border's a mess. Let's give it to Kamala and make the blame fall on her. But, you know, she's not clever enough to understand, okay, they're screwing me by making me in charge of this. And she's not. Even if she did figure that out, she's not good enough to say, okay, well, if they're gonna stick it on me, why don't I do something about it? Nope. You know what? She has the same hubris as Mayorkas, the same hubris as Merrick Garland of I don't have to answer the American people. It doesn't matter that I don't know anything about the border, that I've never been to the border, that I don't care about the border, that I'm doing nothing to solve it. Oh, well, no one will hold me to account. And it's. It's. There's a consistent thread that runs through this entire administration.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's not just a consistent thread. It's a fact that this is their policy. That as we look at it as a failure, they're looking at this as a success. And the success is for the border to be overrun and to remake this country. Is that your take on this? I mean, this was done by design. This isn't by accident. This was a deliberate decision they made to open the floodgates to this country. The fentanyl, the human trafficking, the sex trafficking, everything else that comes across the border. They knew it was going to happen. They then saw it was happening and have not changed course one time since they got elected.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, I think that's right. I will say this. I do think some Democrats are realizing that the utter disaster at the southern border is a political liability. So what has happened? We talk about this a lot on the pod. This White House made a political decision on every issue. Let's give the agenda to the radical left. So on immigration, it's the open border. Radical left. On law enforcement, it's the abolish the police and George Soros prosecutors. Radical left. On gender policy, it's the transgender mutilate children to change their gender. Radical left. These are all views that have, you know, a tiny percentage of support with the American people. These are not center left views. These are not center views. These are 10, 15% fringe views that on every issue, that's what they follow. What is interesting is I do think a couple of White House aides and I think some Senate Democrats are realizing, wow, this, this border has gotten so bad, we're vulnerable. And here's some of the evidence of that. You know, Biden tweeted out this week, we need to do more to fund securing the border. And it's just. It's a deranged tweet. And of course, what he tries to do is blame it on Republicans. It's Republicans that don't want to secure the border, which is. It's the most bizarre. But the fact that he's saying it shows vulnerability. And I'll tell you, one of the things that I found very interesting in yesterday's hearing. As I was vigorously questioning Mayorkas, and he started to get in real trouble, and he started to panic. And he looked over at Dick Durbin, who's the chairman of the committee, and he said, Mr. Chairman, would you help me? And he kind of looked helpless and plaintiff. And I've served 11 years on Judiciary with Durbin. Durbin and I go round and round and round. Durbin is, I think, the smartest of the Democrats on the committee. He's the most effective questioner on the committee. He and I have battled a thousand times in the Roman Coliseum arena. Dick Durbin is not remotely shy to come after me, and I'm not remotely shy to come after him. And so often at these hearings, he and I go round and round. I found it fascinating that when Mayorkas pleaded to Durbin to come in and save him, Durbin just looked at him and didn't do anything. And what it said to me is Durbin was like, dude, you're on your own on this one. That I think Senate Democrats are not eager to get in the mud pit with Mayorkas. And I gotta say, it kind of felt like. And by the way, it's the only time I can think of in 11 years when Durbin has refrained from coming after me on that sort of questioning. Usually it would feature Durbin jumping in because he likes to do that. And I actually took it as, at least for some Senate Democrats, they're getting fed up with Mayorkas, and they're looking at him saying, okay, this guy needs to be the sacrificial lamb. He needs to go down. Let's blame this whole border disaster on him, have him fired and focus on the midterms. I thought that was in many ways the most revealing, quiet moment of the hearing. Nobody on the outside watching noticed it. But for sitting on the committee, it screamed from a mountaintop.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, there's been talk about Mayorkas possibly being impeached for literally not doing his job. And that goes back to the most heated point of your back and forth and I want to play that for people because it was also very telling when he got angry that you were coming after him with the facts and he was losing with those facts and then not being bailed out by Dick Durbin. I'm going to play that in a second. But let me tell you about our friends over Augusta Precious Metals. If you've been saving a long time and working really hard for your retirement then you understand how important it is to protect your hard earned money right now with what's going on in the economy. You've seen what's happening with interest rates. You've seen what's been happening all over the world with investments. Now is the time for you to take a look at your portfolio and make sure that you are doing everything you can to preserve and protect your hard earned dollars. That's where precious metals come in. Augusta Precious Metals. They're different. Why? Because they'll even tell you if a gold IRA isn't your answer. It's just the facts with them now I guess the precious metals all about protecting IRAs and 401ks in this economy and it's so important close to retirement because there is no time to make up losses. So if you've saved a hundred thousand dollars or more talk to my friends Augusta Precious Metals take a look at their free guide and you'll get that sent to you. You'll also you can sign up for their web conference where you meet one on one with somebody within Augusta Precious Metals. And I've done that. I use them, call them 8774 the number 4 Gold IRA. 877 the number 4 Gold IRA or online Augusta precious metals.com that's Augusta precious metals.com center one of the most contentious parts of the back and forth with you and Mayorkas was was clearly after Durbin wasn't going to bail him out. And this was one of the most brilliant moments I've seen in a long time. Take a listen.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

The photograph from just one day along the Rio Grande of hundreds of thousands of people walking across the border. You have allowed this to happen. The photograph that was before. What. What are these wristbands?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I don't know what they are.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

You don't know what they are. Mr. Secretary, you have just testified to the American people you're incompetent at your job. Because I've been to the southern border and if you go to the southern border, along the southern border you see thousands of these wristbands because the illegal immigrants wear them the drug cartels. Every color corresponds to how many thousands of dollars they owe the cartels. You have turned these cartels into multi billion dollar criminal organizations. And these are modern day leg irons because these are children being sold into sex slavery. And you don't even know what they are. That is astonishing, Mr. Secretary. How many children have been sold into sex slavery under your administration?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator, we are taking it to the cartel.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

How many children have been sold into.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Sex slavery in an.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Do you know how many children have.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Been sold into sex slavery to an unprecedented degree?

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Mr. Secretary, I want to say to.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You right now, it is.

[Alejandro Mayorkas]

Your behavior is disgraceful. And the deaths, the children assaulted, the children raped, they are at your feet. And if you had integrity, you would resign. And I will tell you, the men and women of the Border Patrol, they've never had a political leader undermine them. They despise you, Mr. Secretary, because you're willing to let children be raped to follow political orders. This is a crisis. It's a disgrace. And you won't even admit this human tragedy is a dis.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Crisis. Claiming one minute, chairman time. Mr. Secretary, would you like to respond to any of those questions?

What the Senator said was revolting. I'm not going to address it.

Your refusal to do your job is revolting.

[Ben Ferguson]

I don't think you could have ended that any better. Your refusal to do your job is revolting. And all of the carnage that you just mentioned and everything that this man doesn't know. How does he not know about the wristbands? And do you believe that he lied to you?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, I'm. I'm sitting here now, hours after that cross examination, I'm still furious. I'm angry because I spend a lot of time on the southern border. I've seen. I've seen these kids. I've seen little boys and little girls who've been raped by the human traffickers. I've seen the tragedy. I've seen little girls who are pregnant because they were raped by the traffickers. I've seen the. Let me tell you something horrific. When I last brought a group of senators down to the border, the Border Patrol agents told us about a phenomenon. I'm sorry, this is graphic, but a phenomenon they're seeing that they call rape Trees. And what happens is the traffickers bring women over to the United States and on US soil, they rape those women. They then take their underwear and they hang them in the trees. And border patrol or sheriffs, they encounter trees, they. That'll have 10, 15, 20 women's underwear hanging in the branches. And they do it as a taunt. A taunt to the border patrol, a taunt to the police. You can't stop us. And so when I look at Bayorkas, that human suffering, I've seen too much of it. And he doesn't care. And the reason I know he doesn't care is if he cared, he would act to stop it. It is in his power to stop it. We had the year before he got. He became Homeland Security Secretary, the year before Biden became president, 2020, we had the lowest illegal immigration in 45 years. We know how to solve this problem. But Mayorkas and Biden made a political decision. We want every illegal alien possible in America, and we don't care. We don't care about the suffering. And I have to admit, at the hearing, the answer he gave that surprised me the most is the one you just played a minute ago when he said he didn't know what the wristbands were. I was startled at that because I got to tell you, when you stand on the banks of the Rio Grande, as I've had, they cover the grass. They're everywhere because it's, look, it's like a QR code. You got to understand these cartels. In 2018, the drug cartels made roughly $500 million from human trafficking. That's in 2018. Last year they made $13 billion. That's a 2,600% increase the $13 billion they made. They have these car. These wristbands on every person who comes over. They collect the money. They send the boys to work for gangs in cities all across America. They send the girls to work in forced sex slavery. And I look at these, I have a number of the wristbands. So what you couldn't hear when I said, how do you not know? Is I had a vanilla envelope full of wristbands that I collected at the border that I just dumped out on the dais and held them up because I picked them up. And some of them are tiny. Some of them obviously were on a little child, a 4, 5, 6 year old. And as I said in that questioning, I look at those wristbands as modern day leg irons. I mean, we have today human slavery. Just like the horrors of human slavery in the first century of our nation's history. We have human slavery today. Except today the people responsible for the slavery are Alejandro Mayorkas and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. And for him to say, I don't know what those are like, I was genuinely flabbergasted, speechless. Like, how do you do that job and not go down to the border, not talk to the border Patrol agents, not go stand by the river and say, hey, what are these things? How do you not listen to the men and women on the front lines who tell you what's happening? And any person with a hint of morality, okay, fine. If the White House gives you a political order, we want open borders. We don't care what happens. You know what a person with integrity does says, Mr. President, I can't do that. I can't sit here and turn a blind eye on while people are brutalized. I'm not going to be responsible for that. That's what someone with integrity in that cabinet position does. And Mayorkas, the idea hasn't even occurred to him. And notice his response at the end when Durbin said, do you want to respond to any of that? He didn't say, oh, of course I know what the wristbands are. He had no idea what they were. He didn't say, oh, the children being assaulted is tragic. He. He said, those questions are revolting. It's that same contempt, that dripping arrogance that says, how dare anyone question what I'm doing? And you know what? If you're a mom of one of those children who've been assaulted, I got to say, you watch this testimony today. I don't know if you're filled with more grief and tears or anger or both. But what's infuriating, he intends to change nothing, which means he intends to allow more people to be killed, more people to be sexually assaulted, more people to be brutalized, and more Americans to die of fentanyl overdoses as a result.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, let's talk about the fentanyl for a second, because this has been an issue that has affected so many families all over the country is the od. And we know that the fentanyl is coming across our open border. We've seen it skyrocket. The number one killer of young people in America today is now fentanyl overdoses. I know I don't know a single family now that doesn't know someone who's died from a fentanyl overdose. In my. In my extended group of friends, it's happening now on a more regular basis. A week ago, I got a phone call of somebody who I worked with. He was at an event, and they thought they were smoking marijuana.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

No intent to die. Three of the people collapsed right there. Two of the three died. These are individuals that were older. They thought they were having a time, you know, just smoking Some weed. And, and that's now how. My point is how much fentanyl is coming across. It's in everything. It's all. It's being shipped in massive quantities in this country, enough to kill every man, woman and child. You and I have talked about this before, but just from a drug standpoint, does he seem to even care about that at all either?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

No, he has empty talking points. And listen, when it comes to fentanyl overdoses, they're not even overdose doses at this point. I think they're poisonings because they're different. You think of someone who has a heroin overdose, you think of someone that, say, is a heroin user and it's tragic, and they're injecting and they're injecting and they accidentally inject too much. And that. That's a tragedy, but it's a tragedy based on a really dangerous slippery slope of conduct. What's happening with fentanyl is a different beast. Last year, there were over 100,000 people who died of overdoses, the majority from Chinese fentanyl coming across our southern border. And what happens as you describe your friend? Look, as you know, my sister Miriam died of an overdose about 12 years ago. It was not fentanyl, but it was painkillers and she took too many of them. We don't know if it was on purpose or not, but she took a whole bunch of pills at night and never woke up in the morning. And I love my sister. My sister was nine years older than me. She was an amazing person who tragically made a lot of wrong decisions and ended up paying for those decisions. The scourge of drug use has been massive. But with fentanyl, now it's qualitatively different because it's. It's one guy at a party who smokes one joint. And listen, when we were kids, when I was a teenager, I smoked pot. I've admitted that I smoked pot. I tried it as a teenager. I haven't smoked pot since I was a teenager. But as a teenager, when I was in high school and a little bit in college, I smoked pot at the time, you know, you got high, you had fun, you wanted some Cheetos, and then you were done. There wasn't really a risk of, okay, if I smoke this joint, I'm going to fall over dead. There is right now that very real risk because they're lacing marijuana with fentanyl. You look at parties where a kid, a teenage kid will say, hey, take a pill, have a Valium, have a Percocet, have a Ritalin. And you know, look, kids experiment, they do stupid things. And so some kid says, oh, that sounds like fun. And they take one pill. Now it used to be if a kid at a party took one pill, they might get a buzz or something and it would be fine. Now if they take one pill and it has fentanyl in it and a little too much, the kid drops over dead.

[Ben Ferguson]

And let's be clear what a little too much is. It can be the size of the end of a ballpoint pen granular. To put it in perspective of what too much is, what can kill you is.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So let me tell you an illustration that a DEA agent told me. I was visiting with a DEA agent and a mom whose 22 year old daughter was at a party, took one pill and fell over dead from fentanyl. And the illustration this DEA agent did is he said he brought with him some packs of Sweet and Low. And he said, open the pack of Sweeten Loan. So we all did. There were like half dozen of us around the table. We all did. He said, dump out all of the Sweet and Low. So we dumped it all out on the table. He said, okay, now stick your pinky in the packet, the empty packet. And we did. You pulled it out and there were a handful of little flecks of Sweet and Low on your finger. Tiny. He said, that's enough fentanyl to kill you. The residue from the inside of the packet after you've emptied it out. And I got to tell you, my, you know, my girls, as you know, are 14 and 12. I sat down with both girls. I had them take a packet of Sweet and Low, open it up, dip their finger in. And I'm trying to that they're reaching an age where they may go to a party and some kid says, hey, try this. And I hope their answer is no. But it used to be if their answer wasn't no, the consequences were one stupid night. And were not, you die right there. I mean, it is terrifying. And so the Biden administration has a talking point. The Democrats have a talking point. So much of this hearing, the Senate Democrats were trying to say, we think the fentanyl is terrible and we need to stop it, but it's not our fault. You know, Cory Booker said in the hearing, this problem was here long before Joe Biden. No, no, this, this, this, the explosion of illegal immigrants was not here before Joe Biden. In 2020, we had the lowest rate of illegal immigrants in 45 years. Biden caused it. It's why I Had these charts that showed over and over again the explosion. And here's what happened. So. So their other talking point is they say the bulk of the fentanyl and drugs we find are at the ports of entry, not crossing the border, outside the ports of entry. Now, notice the keywords we find. Yeah, they've got hundreds of agents at the ports of entry. So they find drugs there. They pulled most of their agents off of the border. So. You know, one of the things I questioned Mayorkas about, In the last 18 months, there have been over 1 million gotaways. What's a gotaway? An illegal alien they spot somewhere running, who gets away. I asked Mayorkas, all right, of the gotaways, you don't know how many of them are murderers? Of course the answer is no, they got away. He doesn't know anything about them. He refused to answer that, of course, because he's Mayorkas. I asked how many of them are rapists. He refused to say he didn't know. Of course he doesn't know. How many are child molesters? Of course he doesn't know. How many are terrorists? Of course he doesn't know. But the one that's relevant to this, this line of questioning, how many are drug dealers? How many are carrying fentanyl? He has no idea and he doesn't care. He just says, no, no, no, no. It's the ports of entry. And here's what's happening. And I've. When I go out on midnight patrol with the border patrol, here's what they tell me they do. So the cartels will send several rafts across the river, and they're portions of the river where the current runs pretty fast. Now, the border patrol does not intercept the rafts in the river. And some people say, oh, you should stop them. Well, there's a reason they don't intercept the rafts in the river, because if they do, the border patrol, the cartel members will flip the rafts over, will deliberately capsize the rafts, and the rafts have women and children and suddenly you'll have little kids, you'll have a four year old kid getting swept away in the current and drowning. And what happens when that happens is the border patrol agents dive into the water and try to rescue the vulnerable immigrants who are drowning. And the cartels do that because they know that it consumes all the border patrol resources dealing with the humans being trafficked. And then a half mile down the river, they send another raft across loaded with fentanyl. And so they draw all the resources over there by Tipping a raft over by having. And by the way, we had border patrol agents, we had a national guardsman drown trying to save illegal immigrants who are drowning in the river. It is incredibly perilous. But these cartels don't care because they don't even view these people as cattle. They are less than cattle. They are objects to be discarded. They view them like garbage. But the infuriating thing is, even though mayorkas gives professions I care if you care, you would not continue to allow this suffering to happen. And he does not intend to change a damn thing, which means at the end of the day, he doesn't care.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let's talk about impeachment quickly. And I want to get your thoughts. There's been a lot of talk about impeachment of mayorkas, that he is someone that should be impeached for literally not doing his job. Before we get that, let me tell you about our friends at Patriot Mobile. Look, you've got a cell phone. 99% of you listening have a cell phone. Majority of you are actually probably listening to this podcast right now on your cell phone. If you're going to have a cell phone, why not have it with a company that actually stands up for the values that you believe in? That's where Patriot Mobile, the only conservative Christian cell phone company in the US Comes in. They actually can save you money over what you're paying right now. You get the same exact coverage you have right now on the same towers that you're using right now. Now the big difference and the reason why you want to switch and why you should switch is this. They take a portion of your bill every month when you pay that bill and they actually give it back to conservative causes and organizations that you help choose to support. I'm talking about standing up for the life of unborn children. I'm talking about helping with adoptions. I'm talking about your first and your second amendment rights. I'm talking about setting up for parental rights in our schools. That's what they're doing when you pay your bill. So when you make a phone call, when you send a text and you're with Patriot Mobile, you're making a difference every day. Make the switch to Patriot Mobile. Go to patriot mobile.com verdict patriot mobile.com verdict or call them 878-PIOT. That's 878-PIOT. Use a promo code verdict when you call them and you will get the best deals of the day. Patriot mobile.com Verdict Senator, there's been a lot of talk about impeachment. Obviously, Mayorkas is carrying out the wishes of the President of the United States of America. The President's wishes are clearly just flood the border, let everything in. Whether that's because he's compromised by the Chinese or send the fentanyl or he's compromised by some of the deals that his family has done with people in Mexico, I don't know. But it does seem odd to be going against Americans and protecting Americans. So when you look at Mayorkas and the job he's doing, should the Republicans move to impeach him in the House and see what happens after that?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So I have three answers for that. Yes, yes, and hell yes. I believe they should impeach Alejandro Mayorkas. I think it should be one of the very top priorities. I think they probably will. The one impediment is they have a narrow four member majority, so they can't lose. If they lose five Republicans, they're in trouble because no Democrat will impeach him. The Democrats don't care. It doesn't matter what facts you put forward. But it's not just that Mayorkas is not doing his job. He's actively and aggressively defying federal law. He's flouting federal law. One of the other talking points Democrats had at the hearings today is Congress has failed. We need to pass new laws to fix this. What a load of crap. We have laws. We have laws that make it illegal to cross into this country illegally. We have laws that mandate that you deport people who are apprehended. Those are the existing laws that Congress has passed. What our Constitution did not envision is a president and a cabinet secretary who utterly ignore the law. They don't even pretend to follow it. And in fact, they affirmatively and aggressively frustrate the law so that instead of deporting people who come here illegally as the law requires, the Biden administration puts them on planes and buses and ships them to every community in America, pays for it themselves, and gives them essentially fraudulent work authorizations, give them documents to go get jobs illegally. Federal law says they can't work. The Biden administration is essentially producing counterfeit work authorizations. And they're doing it at the scale five and a half million people. That's bigger than a lot of the states in America. And Mayorkas should be impeached because he is utterly flouting and defying and mocking federal law and, and he is causing death and suffering. He is a direct cause of the hundred thousand overdoses we had last year. He is a direct cause of the children who are abused. He is a direct cause of the women who are sexually assaulted. He is a direct cause of the murderers from MS, the murders from Ms. 13 and other gang members, the illegal aliens who come and murder people here. Yes, he should be impeached. And you said see what happens. Listen, the reason to impeach Mayorkas is not because we believe he will be convicted and removed from office. He should be. I would vote in an instant to do that. But impeachment in the House takes a majority. If Republicans hold together, we will have that conviction in the Senate which is what is needed to remove someone from office. Takes 2/3 of the Senate. The chances that Senate Democrats will vote to convict are zero because Senate Democrats do not care. Look, most of the Senate Democrats in judiciary skipped most of the hearing today. They'd show up and throw some softball questions. They'd say, gosh, shouldn't we get more H1B work visas? They don't care. The Democrats. There was not a single Democrat saying hey wait a second, how many kids are being sexually assaulted? How many children are sold into sex slavery? If the Democrats were really the compassionate humanitarian party they claim to be, wouldn't you think at least one of them would be worried about the modern day slavery that the Biden administration is responsible for? None of them cared. None of them asked about it. None of them were worried about it at all. Instead they had a political spin. Oh, this problem was here before Biden. It's not his fault. The reason may orca should be impeached, the reason we should have a trial is to put these facts before the American people because the press is complicit. The corporate media does not want people to know these facts. And Ben, the thing to understand, no Democrat defends these. There's a reason Mayorkas won't answer my questions. You can't defend what is happening. It is cross the point to being indefensible. And so their only defense is hide. It is keep the American people ignorant and and in the dark. And the purpose of the impeachment is to force the press to cover some of these facts so people understand the horror that this administration has produced.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, I'll say it because I think there's a lot of people listening. They're going to agree with me on this one. Thank you for your tough questioning of Mayorkas today. Coming in and challenging him, being prepared, something that he clearly didn't have time to do because it wasn't a priority to him. But these are real quick questions that people want to get answers from. Senator. So I appreciate you leading on this issue. Don't forget we do this podcast three days a week. Make sure you hit that subscriber auto download button wherever you're listening right now. Also, you can help us grow by sharing this podcast episode on your timeline on social media. If you're on Getter, Twitter, Parlor, Instagram, wherever you are, Facebook. Please share this podcast when you listen. Also, write us a five star review. It helps us tremendously reach a new audience and we'll see you back here in a couple of days.