Sen. Ted Cruz, a onetime skeptic of tariffs, said Sunday that President-elect Donald Trump's threats of levying them to push Mexico and Canada could be effective leverage to secure the U.S. borders.
"The threat of tariffs against Mexico and Canada immediately has produced action," the Texas Republican said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "We've seen the president of Mexico stand up and promise that she is going to work hand in hand with the president of the United States, President Trump, to secure the border."
He said he wants to know why President Joe Biden hasn't used leverage of his own for the border.
"The reason is, Joe Biden and the Democrats wanted this invasion to happen," Cruz said. "And I've got to say, this is a promise that I believe President Trump is going to deliver on and deliver quickly."
Cruz added that he hopes the first bill passed in the Senate next year is his Justice for Jocelyn Act, a response to the rape and murder of Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl allegedly "killed by violent criminal illegal aliens released by Joe Biden and the Democrats."
Trump, he added, was "explicit" with Mexico and Canada on imposing the tariffs unless they secure the border.
"That is the same way that President Trump negotiated the 'Remain in Mexico' agreement," Cruz said.
He said Andrés Manuel López Obrador, then the president of Mexico, was "incredibly scared and concerned" and signed the agreement, "which produced the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years."
But Biden tore up the agreement during his first week in office, said Cruz.
"I expect we will once again enter into Remain in Mexico. And we are going to see — I make a prediction right now — we will see the numbers plummet of illegal immigration coming into this country, not in a year, not in six months, but in January and February, because we will have a president who will vigorously enforce the law," he said.
Cruz also commented about Trump picking Kash Patel as the next FBI director, saying he thinks the slate of Cabinet nominees that have been picked is "very strong" and will be confirmed.
Patel has a "serious professional background" as a prosecutor and senior intelligence staffer.
"He was the chief of staff of the Department of Defense," said Cruz. "He was the deputy director of national intelligence. And I got to say, all of the weeping and gnashing of teeth, all of the people pulling their hair out are exactly the people who are dismayed about having a real reformer come into the FBI and clean out the corrupted partisans who, sadly, have burrowed into senior career positions at the FBI."
Current FBI Director Christopher Wray, appointed by Trump, will either resign or be fired, said Cruz.
"It's no secret to anybody, including Chris Wray, that he is not going to continue to serve as the head of the FBI under Donald Trump," said Cruz. "Listen, if you look at James Comey and Chris Wray, there has never been a period in our nation's history where the FBI has suffered a greater loss of respect, where more Americans doubt the fundamental integrity of the FBI."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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