Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley accused the Biden administration on Tuesday of ignoring a crisis at the southern border following revelations that Customs and Border Protection shut down highway checkpoints so that personnel could be redirected to address a surge of migrants.
The senators urged Biden to act hours after Fox News reported that CBP had shut down a trio of checkpoints in Willcox, Arizona. The number of child migrants in custody at federal border facilities has tripled to 3,250 over the last two weeks, with many held longer than the three days allowed under the law.
A CBP official told Fox News that the checkpoints had been closed in early January due to shifting migrant patterns in the area, with limited staff left in place for security purposes. The move this week removes the checkpoints entirely in order to free up additional manpower to deal with the migrant traffic.
“How much more will it take for the Biden administration to admit there is a crisis on the border?” Cruz wrote on Twitter.
