Ted Cruz says there's no need for more border legislation and Biden should simply mimic Trump's immigration strategy

Sen. Ted Cruz speaks during a press conference on border security at the US Capitol Building on September 27, 2023, in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

• Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said there’s no need for Republicans to help pass a border bill.
• He said all that Biden needs to do is mimic what Trump did to curb immigration.
• Cruz spoke out about the bill as reports have emerged Trump has pressured senators to oppose it.

In a recent television appearance, Sen. Ted Cruz publicly advocated against the immigration bill his Republican colleagues have been in negotiations with Democrats over for months.

Appearing on Fox News on Thursday night, Cruz explained that he doesn’t think a border-related bill is necessary.

“We don’t need a border bill,” Cruz said. “We achieved the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years under Donald Trump. What was different, is you had a president that wanted to secure the border.”

The Texas Republican noted that he has yet to see the contents of the bipartisan immigration bill, but insisted that congressional action isn’t needed on the matter.

“Trump or any Republican president willing to enforce the law doesn’t need this bill” to solve the situation at the border, he said.

Cruz’s televised appearance wasn’t the first time he’s railed against the Senate bill. At a press conference Wednesday alongside several conservative senators, he called it a “stinking pile of crap bill.”

The senator from Texas’ comments come at the same time several publications have reported former President Donald Trump has been privately pressuring GOP leaders to oppose the bill so he can use the border as campaign fodder, leading to backlash from some Republican lawmakers.

If a deal on immigration legislation can’t be completed, the United States’ ability to financially support Ukraine in its yearslong war against Russia will become fraught as congressional Republicans insisted the two bills be paired.

The Biden Administration and Texas state officials have also butted heads as of late over the state’s added border security measures like razor wire.

The federal government recently won a Supreme Court battle to allow US border agents to remove the razor wiring, though the state is now utilizing a loophole to keep installing it.