Ted Cruz Blames Border Humanitarian Crisis On President Obama's 'Lawlessness'

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AP

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) issued a statement Monday blaming the crisis along the U.S.-Mexican border, where thousands of unaccompanied children are being held in miserable conditions after attempting to cross on President Barack Obama.

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"We are witnessing a humanitarian crisis unfolding that is the direct consequence of President Obama's lawlessness," Cruz said at a press conference after touring a facility in San Antonio that houses many of the children. "The United States is responding, as we always do, with compassion. We just toured this Air Force facility, where up to 1,200 children are being cared for. … But they have come through harrowing circumstances."

Cruz, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, cited Obama's 2012 decision to stop deporting as many as 800,000 illegal immigrants who entered the United States as children as the reason for the influx of young migrants. Calling the move "amnesty," Cruz argued it only incentivized more children to try coming to the country

"In 2012, President Obama lawlessly granted amnesty to some 800,000 people here illegally who entered as children. And the direct consequences of that lawlessness, of that amnesty, is that we've seen the number of children taking the incredible risks that are entailed with coming across the border grow exponentially," he said.

Last Thursday, Cruz wrote a letter to Obama calling on him to help Texas take "decisive action" to resolve the crisis.

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View Cruz's Monday press conference below.