Ted Cruz lays out the shameful facts behind illegal immigration to Director of ICE

July 22, 2015

WRITER

The progressive line claims that a lot of illegal immigrants are hard working people who are just here to help their families and do the jobs Americans don't want to do. Their only crime is entering into this country. When the Director of ICE, Sarah Saldana, tried to spin these talking points to Sen. Ted Cruz, he wasn't having it. Cruz schooled her on the facts behind illegal immigration, and how the Obama administration's actions have endangered the American people.

Listen to the beginning of today's podcast for more:

Below is a rush transcript, it may contain errors:

PAT: Meanwhile, Ted Cruz had sitting in front of him yesterday the director of ICE, Sarah Saldana. And he was talked to her about -- the criminal illegal aliens. Okay. Not the people coming in. Just the good, hard-working, decent human beings trying to support their family. Not to say that the criminal illegals aren't good decent hard-working people trying to support their family. They just happen to do it while they break the law.

STU: Technically, all illegal immigrants whether they're good or not are breaking the law as they're trying to feed their families.

PAT: But that's they didn't have a Post-It note when they should have. Their mom didn't give them the Post-It note that said, my son may cross the border. They didn't have that.

STU: That's the issue. That's the undocumented part of that. But Cruz is specifically talking about something else though. He's talking about people with real criminal activity, not just violations of laws that we don't enforce.

PAT: Right.

TED: In the year 2013, how many criminal illegal aliens did the Obama administration release?

SARAH: In '14, it was a little over 30,000.

PAT: That wasn't the question though. He said 2013. And then she goes, well, in '14, it was 30,000. Keep going.

TED: How many murderers?

SARAH: In that year, sir, I can't remember the number right now, but I know that we had -- the statistic that was said earlier, the four-year period from 2010 to 2014, that there were 121 persons who committed crimes afterwards. But I can't provide you the exact number.

TED: How many rapists?

SARAH: I am not sure right now. I'd have to pull that number.

PAT: Keep in mind, this is important information, Ted Cruz, being a lawyer, knows that you never ask a question you don't already know the answer to. This much he already knows, so just bear that in mind.

TED: How many drunk drivers?

SARAH: Same answer. I can certainly bring that down for you. And, in fact, I think we're working on that right now. It's been requested before.

TED: Yesterday, how many murderers did the Obama administration release?

SARAH: Now, Senator, I don't know the answer to that question, but I want the American people to understand our job and our mission, if I may.

TED: Ms. Saldana, I want to note that your testimony here when I asked you how many criminals ICE released in 2013, you were off by a factor of three. You said 30,000. The correct answer is 104,000. There were 68,000 criminals, criminal illegal alien that ICE declined to begin deportation proceedings against, despite the fact as Senator Sessions observed the federal law that you're holding up there says they shall be deported. The Obama administration refused to deport them. That's 68,000.

In addition to that, there were 36,000 in deportation proceedings with criminal convictions that the Obama administration released, and I would note that among those were 193 murderers with homicide convictions, were 426 people with sexual assault convictions, were over 16,000 criminal illegal aliens with drunk driving convictions released by this administration because this administration refuses to follow the law.

Ms. Saldana, I will note in your opening statement here, you said after listening to the victim's family that you were so sorry for their losses.

And yet the Obama administration keeps doing it. When I asked you how many murderers were released yesterday, you don't know. There is a reason the American people are upset. If President Obama had the courage of his convictions, he would come and look in the eyes of these men and women who have lost their sons, their daughters, their mothers, their sisters, their brothers, and the administration would stop releasing murderers and rapists.

PAT: That's why I love this guy. It's just great. Great.

STU: It's a topic we talked about quite a bit lately. What an interesting way to handle it. What a really, really competent way to handle a difficult issue by Ted Cruz.

PAT: Yeah, there are others that don't handle it that way. I won't name any. But there are others who do not handle it like he did.

STU: What a great way to handle it though.

PAT: It's great. He got an admission by her. I didn't include the whole thing because it's like eight minutes long. But at one point to the 104,000 figure of criminal illegal aliens released by the Obama administration, she said that's absolutely right. That's absolutely right. Fully aware with it.

JEFFY: And yet earlier, we have to break out those numbers.

PAT: Yeah, I don't know what those numbers are. Other people have asked about that. I was going to look at those numbers, and then I didn't. It's 193 murderers. How do you release murderers? How do you do that?

STU: Yeah, we've seen that happen a few times. Dukakis. Huckabee. These things destroyed campaigns when you did one of them that went out and did something. But this administration does it constantly. It's actually policy. And the interesting thing about this -- about Saldana is it's not her fault. I mean, she's the one up there answering for a terrible policy.

PAT: Yeah, but she agrees with the policy. She testified to that.

STU: I think she probably does. But, again, it's the Obama administration responsible for this. If the Obama administration said, hey, look, we need to not release murderers. Zero murderers needs to be the number. She would have to go along with that policy. That's her job or she would quit. One of the two.

PAT: When you ask the question, how many criminal illegal alien murderers did the Obama administration release yesterday? The answer should be zero. None. We didn't release anybody like that. It's a ridiculous question, senator. Zero.

STU: If you can't clear that hurdle. Think of how low that hurdle is. We didn't release any murderers yesterday. If you can't say that, I'm going to go ahead and say your policy isn't working.

PAT: Yes.

STU: Let me ask you this, Pat, personally. How many murderers did you release yesterday?

PAT: Altogether? Are we talking about citizens as well as noncitizens?

STU: Yeah. I'll open it up to that. Citizens and noncitizens, how many murderers did you open up to the public to murder more? Just yesterday.

PAT: Just carry the one.

STU: Don't forget. Remember, this includes brunch.

PAT: Oh. Okay. I'll figure that in. Bring the two. Add the brunch.

None. Yeah, zero.

STU: None? You can say that confidently?

PAT: It's an usual day, but none yesterday.

STU: These are not tough questions.

PAT: They're really not. And somehow we make them really difficult because we have the dumbest immigration policy on the planet. I don't think there's any question that we're the only ones on earth who act this way. Who have these policies. Who allow ourselves to ignore our laws. And just keep going down that same path, even though it's hurt us time and time again. Even though it's causing tragedy after tragedy for our citizenry and costing you see billions and billions of dollars every year. We keep going down the same path. Then what do they say? Well, we need comprehensive immigration reform. No, we don't. Because that's a code phrase for amnesty. And that's not what we need. What we need is to follow the existing laws. If we just did that, we'd be a lot further ahead.

STU: Yeah, that solves 90 percent of the issues. Yes, there will still be some issues you have to deal with. But that gets you 90 percent of the way there.

PAT: It really does. And close the border. Secure it as best you can.

STU: That's part of the law, right?

PAT: We don't follow the law.

STU: When you talk about comprehensive immigration reform, the reason why people say it is because we all -- if you take those words as to the words they actually mean. Like, comprehensive immigration reform. You know what, pretty much everyone on the planet would agree, even people trying to immigrate here. Even people trying to close the border down. Even people who just look at what we're doing now, not enforcing our laws, would agree that we need massive reform of our immigration system. I would completely agree with that general sentiment. But you're right, Pat. That has become code -- comprehensive immigration reform is a phrase that tests well because of what I just talked about.

PAT: Yeah. And it shouldn't.

STU: And it means something different. It means that you're going to give amnesty. It means you'll have all these other crazy policies. New policies. Kind of jammed in there. That's not what we're talked about. You're right. 90 percent of the problem probably goes away if you are just enforce the law.

PAT: Remove incentives, enforce the law, secure the border. It's a fairly simple three-step process. And the comprehensive immigration reform phrase has been around since George W. Bush, by the way. We knew what it meant at that time because they explained. He would talk about comprehensive -- we need comprehensive immigration reform when I come back from Europe, we'll get that done. We need a comprehensive plans. Which means a plan that you can comprehend.

(laughter)

Of course, that's not what it meant. It meant that they were going to grant a pathway to citizenship for 11 to 20 million illegals that are here. They'll go to the front of the line. They're not going to pay -- people talk all the time. Well, they need to pay a penalty. They need to go to the back of the line. That doesn't happen. And we've been down that road with Ronald Reagan in 1986. How is it that we don't learn anything from our mistakes?

STU: Right. And those are typically policies that are, you know, proposed by Republicans. The beginning negotiating point is they'll pay a fine. Which of course, when you start a negotiation with we're going to pay a fine, what basically happens is either that fine will be nonexistent or much, much less. And it's funny because people who deride the way we handle immigration, like myself, would say, hey, we don't treat this as an actual offense. We treat it as a kind of speeding ticket. Well, if you show up and you're not supposed to be here. We'll let you go. Try to show up in court in a couple of months. You don't have to. If you don't do it and we catch you away --

PAT: Wink, wink, nobody does. We don't expect you to come back.

STU: And honestly, of course, it's actually less serious, for that reason, you are expected to show up for your speeding ticket. But the final thing when they get tough on immigration and John McCain and Lindsey Graham tell us how tough they are on immigration, it's pay a fine, which is again like a speeding ticket.

PAT: Yeah.

STU: It really is so minimal as to what we expect out of people who are coming to our country looked for a better life. We have leverage here. We have the awesome country. We have the ones they're trying to get to from the crap heap they're trying to get from. That's what we have on the table. In a negotiation, we're the guys that have all the chips.

PAT: And I'm sorry, what is it that Mexico does according to the former president of that nation when they have illegals there?

VOICE: Of course, if somebody sneaks in from Nicaragua or some other country in Central America through the southern border of Mexico. They wind up in Mexico. They can go get a job. They can work.

VOICE: No, no. If somebody do that without permissions, we send back them.

PAT: If they do that without permissions, we send back them.

JEFFY: How quick he was too. No, no.

PAT: No, no. What are you, nuts? We're not crazy like you morons. More of the Glenn Beck Program coming up with Pat and Stu.

STU: 877-727-BECK is our phone number.

The Deep State's NEW plan to backstab Trump

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move.

In 2016, Donald Trump shocked the world by defeating Hillary Clinton. Conservatives cheered, believing we’d taken back the reins of our country. But we missed the bigger battle. We failed to recognize the extent of the damage caused by eight years of Barack Obama and decades of progressive entrenchment. The real war isn’t won at the ballot box. It’s being waged against an insidious force embedded deep within our institutions: the administrative state, or the “deep state.”

This isn’t a new problem. America’s founders foresaw it, though they didn’t have a term for “deep state” back in the 1700s. James Madison, in Federalist 48, warned us that combining legislative, executive, and judicial powers in the same hands is “the very definition of tyranny.” Yet today, that’s exactly where we stand. Unelected bureaucrats in agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Justice hold more power than the officials we vote for. They control the levers of government with impunity, dictating policies and stifling change.

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege.

We’ve felt the consequences of this growing tyranny firsthand. During COVID-19, so-called experts ran our lives, crushing civil liberties under the guise of public safety. Our intelligence agencies and justice system turned into weapons of political warfare, targeting a sitting president and his supporters. Meanwhile, actual criminals were given a pass, turning American cities into lawless war zones.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1816 that “the functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents.” Today, we see Jefferson’s prophecy fulfilled. The deep state exercises unchecked power over our freedoms, and information itself is controlled by the fourth branch of government: the legacy media.

Even when we win elections, the deep state doesn’t concede defeat. It switches to survival mode. Trump’s first term proved this. Despite a historic mandate to dismantle the bureaucracy, the deep state fought back with everything it had: leaks, investigations, court rulings, and obstruction at every turn. And now, with the possibility of Trump returning to office, the deep state is preparing to do it again.

Progressives are laying out their attack plan — and they’re not even hiding it.

U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) recently boasted about forming a “shadow cabinet” to govern alongside the deep state, regardless of who’s in the White House. Nickel called it “democracy’s insurance policy.” Let’s be clear: This isn’t insurance. It’s sabotage.

They’ll employ a “top down, bottom up, inside out” strategy to overwhelm and collapse any effort to reform the system. From the top, federal judges and shadow officials will block Trump’s every move. Governors in blue states like California and New York are gearing up to resist federal authority. During Trump’s first term, California filed over 100 lawsuits against his administration. Expect more of the same starting January 20.

From the bottom, progressive groups like the American Civil Liberties Union will flood the streets with protesters, much as they did to oppose Trump’s first-term immigration reforms. They’ve refined their tactics since 2016 and are prepared to unleash a wave of civil unrest. These aren’t spontaneous movements; they’re coordinated assaults designed to destabilize the administration.

Finally, from the inside, the deep state will continue its mission of self-preservation. Agencies will drag their feet, leak sensitive information, and undermine policies from within. Their goal is to make everything a chaotic mess, so the heart of their power — the bureaucratic core — remains untouched and grows stronger.

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move. Progressives never see themselves as losing. When they’re out of power, they simply shift tactics, pumping more blood into their bureaucratic heart. We may win elections, but the war against the deep state will only intensify. As George Washington warned in his Farewell Address, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force; and force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege. The deep state has shown us its plan: to govern from the shadows, circumventing the will of the people. But now that the shadows have been exposed, we have a choice. Will we accept this silent tyranny, or will we demand accountability and reclaim our nation’s heart?

The battle is just beginning. We can’t afford to lose.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Drone mystery exposes GLARING government incompetence

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

The drone issue is getting way out of hand.

Earlier this month, Glenn first reported on the mysterious drones stalking the night sky over New Jersey, but the situation is increasingly concerning as the sightings have escalated. Not only have drones been seen across the Northeast Coast, including over New York City, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, but recently, they have been spotted over the night skies of San Diego and other parts of Southern California.

It doesn't take an expert to identify the potential dangers and risks that dozens of undetectable, unidentified six-foot or larger drones pose to national security. Yet, our government's response has been one of unimaginable incompetence, leaving us to speculate on the origin and intention of these drones and wonder in astonishment at the government's ineptitude. Here are three examples of the government's lackluster response to the mystery drones:

Iranian Mothership and Missing Nuclear Warheads

- / Stringer | Getty Images

After several weeks of hubbub, New Jersey Representative, Jeff Van Drew gave an interview on Fox News where he claimed that the drones originated from an Iranian "mothership" off the East Coast of the United States. This theory has since been disproven by satellite images, which show that all Iranian drone carriers are far from U.S. shores. Another theory suggests that drones may be equipped with sensors capable of detecting nuclear material and that they are looking for a nuclear warhead that recently went missing! With these apocalyptic theories gaining traction in the absence of any real answer from our government, one can't help but question the motive behind the silence.

Pentagon's Limp Wristed Response

Alex Wong / Staff | Getty Images

In a recent press conference, national security spokesman John Kirby responded to reporters demanding answers about the government's lack of transparency, which has caused increasing public anxiety. He insisted that the drones did not pose a threat and were not assets of a foreign power, such as from Iran or China--even though he is still uncertain about their identity and origin. He also claimed that many of the sightings were simply misidentifications of normal aircraft.

This lackluster answer has only further inflamed national anxieties and raised even more questions. If the government is unsure of the identity of the drones, how do they know if they are a threat or if they aren't foreign assets? If they aren't foreign, does that mean they are U.S. assets? If so, why not just say so?

The Pentagon has also stated that they are leaving it up to local law enforcement to spearhead the investigation after concluding that these drones pose no threat to any military installation. This has left many feeling like the federal government has turned a blind eye to a serious issue that many Americans are very concerned about.

Where's Pete Buttigieg?

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

We are in the closing weeks of the Biden administration, and with the finish line in sight, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg probably figured nothing else could go wrong on his watch—but boy was he wrong. As Secretary of Transportation, Buttigieg is in charge of the FAA, the agency responsible for managing all air traffic across the nation. One would think that mysterious, 6-foot-long, seemingly intractable drones are invisible on radar and flying above major cities would pose a serious threat to the myriad of legal aircraft that traverse our skies. Yet, Buttigieg has been silent on the issue, adding another failure to his resume which includes: malfunctioning airplanes, the train derailment in Ohio, and the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse, just to name a few.

Glenn: How Alvin Bragg turned hero Daniel Penny into a villain

Michael M. Santiago / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty.

America no longer has a single, shared understanding of justice. Two Americas now exist, each applying justice differently depending on who you are and where you live. One America, ruled by common sense and individual courage, praises heroes who stand up to protect others. The other, driven by political agendas and corrupted institutions, punishes those same heroes for daring to act.

This stark division couldn’t be clearer than in the case of Daniel Penny, the Marine whose trial in New York City this week drew strong reactions from both sides across the divided line of justice.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare.

Penny was on a subway train last year when Jordan Neely — a man suffering from severe mental illness and reportedly high on drugs — began threatening passengers, saying, “I’m going to kill you all.” The fear on that subway car was palpable, but nobody moved. Nobody, that is, until Penny did what needed to be done. He took action to protect innocent lives.

In the America many of us used to believe in, Penny’s response would be heralded as heroic. His actions mirrored the courage of Todd Beamer on Flight 93, who, on September 11, 2001, rallied others with the words, “Let’s roll,” to prevent further tragedy. But in New York, courage doesn’t seem to count anymore. There, the system turns heroes into villains.

Penny subdued Neely using a chokehold, intending only to restrain him, not kill him. Tragically, Neely died. Penny, filled with remorse, told the police he never meant to hurt anyone. Yet, instead of being recognized for protecting others from a clear and present threat, Penny stood trial for criminally negligent homicide.

In Alvin Bragg’s New York, justice bends to ideology. The Manhattan district attorney has made a career of weaponizing the law, selectively prosecuting those who don’t fit his narrative. He’s the same prosecutor who twisted legal precedent to go after Donald Trump on business charges no one had ever faced before. Then, he turned his sights on Daniel Penny.

A jury may have acquitted Penny, but what happened in New York City this week isn’t justice. When the rule of law changes depending on the defendant’s identity or the prosecutor's political motives, we’re no longer living in a free country. We’re living in a state where justice is a game, and ordinary Americans are the pawns.

The system failed Jordan Neely

It’s worth asking: Where were activists like Alvin Bragg when Neely was suffering on the streets? Jordan Neely was a tragic figure — a man with a long history of mental illness and over 40 arrests, including violent assaults. The system failed him long before he stepped onto that subway train. Yet rather than confront that uncomfortable truth, Bragg’s office decided to target the man who stepped in to prevent a tragedy.

This isn’t about justice. It’s about power. It’s about advancing a narrative where race and identity matter more than truth and common sense.

It’s time to demand change

The Daniel Penny case — and others like it — is a wake-up call. We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty. Americans must demand an end to politically driven prosecutions, hold DAs like Alvin Bragg accountable, and stand up for the principle that true justice is blind, consistent, and fair.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare. It’s time to choose which America we want to live in.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

CEO Brian Thompson's killer reveals COWARDICE of the far-left death cult

Jeff Swensen / Stringer | Getty Images

Early on the chilly morning of Wednesday, December 4th, Brian Thompson, CEO of health insurance giant, UnitedHealthcare, was walking through Midtown Manhattan on his way to a company conference. Suddenly, a masked and hooded figure silently allegedly stepped onto the sidewalk behind Thompson, drew a 3-D printed, silenced pistol, and without warning fired multiple shots into Thompson's back before fleeing the scene on an electric bicycle. After a multiple-day manhunt, a 26-year-old lead suspect was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania after being recognized by an employee.

This was not "vigilante justice." This was cold-blooded murder.

As horrific as the murder of a husband and father in broad daylight in the center of New York City is, the story only gets worse. Even before the murder suspect was arrested, left-wing extremists were already taking to X to call him a "hero" and a "vigilante" who "took matters into his own hands." Even the mainstream media joined in on the glorification, as Glenn pointed out on air recently, going out of the way to show how physically attractive the murder suspect was. This wave of revolting and nihilistic fanfare came in response to the findings of online investigators who surmised the murder suspect's motives to retaliate against healthcare companies for corruption and denied coverage. The murder suspect supposedly underwent a major back surgery that left him with back pain, and some of his internet fans apparently viewed his murder of Thompson as retribution for the mistreatment that he and many other Americans have suffered from healthcare companies.

me liking tweets celebrating the assassination of the united healthcare ceo pic.twitter.com/N41w51ZuZR
— 🔻 (@pegasustits) December 5, 2024

The murder suspect and his lackeys don't seem to understand that, other than depriving two children of their father right before Christmas, he accomplished nothing.

The murder suspect failed to achieve his goal because he was too cowardly to try.

If the murder suspect's goals were truly to "right the wrongs" of the U.S. healthcare system, he had every tool available to him to do so in a constructive and meaningful manner. He came from a wealthy and prominent family in the Baltimore area, became the valedictorian at a prestigious all-boys prep school, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master's in engineering. Clearly, the murder suspect was intelligent and capable, and if he had put his talent into creating solutions for the healthcare industry, who knows what he could have accomplished?

This is the kind of behavior the far-left idolizes, like communists on college campuses who wear shirts that celebrate the brutal Cuban warlord, Che Guevara. Merchandise celebrating the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect is already available, including shirts, hoodies, mugs, and even Christmas ornaments. Will they be sporting his face on their T-shirts too?

A liberal TikToker is selling a t-shirt that glorifies the recent assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in NYC.
“deny , defend, depose” was reported to have been on the shell casings. pic.twitter.com/IWpHYkx2lF
— SteveSant66 🇺🇸 (@SSant66) December 8, 2024

This macabre behavior does not breed creation, achievement, success, or life. It only brings death and risks more Americans falling into this dangerous paradigm. But we still have a chance to choose life. We just have to wake up and take it.

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