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Ted Cruz says Biden staffer blocked him from taking video at migrant camp, Internet tells him 'it's not a zoo'

Cruz tweeted, 'How far is Joe Biden going to stop the American people from seeing inside the Donna CBP facility?'

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) took to social media to share a video in which an unnamed staffer of President Joe Biden's administration blocked him from recording at a migrant facility. The video shows the masked staffer telling Cruz, "Please give dignity to the people. Please give dignity to the people. Please respect the people, the rule," while blocking the senator's camera with her face.

Cruz tweeted out the video, writing, "How far is Joe Biden going to stop the American people from seeing inside the Donna CBP facility? Biden sent a political operative from DC to block our cameras and even threatened another senator to obstruct legitimate congressional oversight."

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Cruz identifies the unnamed staffer as a senior advisor for the Biden administration who was hired "two weeks ago". He also says that she was instructed to ask visitors to not have any pictures taken in the facility. In the video, the camera pans to show the migrant facility while the staffer continues to block the camera with her face, saying, "Please respect the rules" repeatedly, which Cruz claims are "arbitrary".

As Cruz continues to say there is a pandemic, asking the staffer if she is showing respect to the migrants, she responds, "This is not a zoo, sir." Cruz also says that he respects the people and "wants to fix this situation", to which the staffer responds, "We all want to fix this situation".

The video comes after the Texas senator was mocked for his wildlife documentary-style videos which he captured during his journey to the US-Mexico border at the banks of the Rio Grande, claiming that cartel members were "waving flashlights, yelling and taunting Americans, taunting the border patrol". 

Cruz later sent a letter to President Biden writing, "We understand the heartbreaking tragedy unfolding at the border because we were there. We saw it. But the American people are unable to see it because you remain intent on keeping the media from shining a light on your administration's failures."

He wrote that reporters were not allowed inside the Donna migrant facility. "They could not show the American people what it looks like when a tent city built to house 250 children under Covid restrictions instead houses 4,2000. They could not show the American people cages after cages of little boys lying side-by-side, of little girls lying side-by-side, covered with reflective emergency blankets with virtually no space between them."

Cruz also wrote that he will tour the Kay Baile Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas, a temporary detention facility designed to accommodate the "overwhelming influx of unaccompanied children", on Monday, March 29. 

Cruz came under fire for his video, with many asking if he showed similar concern while Donald Trump was president. One user wrote, "I forget - did you inspect the facilities when 45 was president? If so, what did you say about it then?" Another tweeted, "It is a bad situation, but it is better than forcing them back to Mexico to live on their own. If Cruz wants to help, he should g back to DC and sponsor a bill for better facilities and more staff Here, and increased aid to Central America so people don’t risk the journey."

A user wrote, "Just a reminder...@tedcruz hasn’t done anything except point the finger, whine and embarrass himself doing ridiculous theatrics in years. For a guy so critical of what everybody else is doing, Cruz is pretty light on producing real solutions." Another tweeted, "Ted Cruz’s performance art at the border was beyond parody. Like, we’re supposed to believe you’re some passionate warrior for immigrants now? Mkay."