President Barack Obama's plan to allow
85,000 Syrian refugees into the United States "is nothing short of crazy," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz says.
In a campaign speech Monday in Kalamazoo, Mich., the GOP presidential candidate laid out a first-day agenda, which he vowed would include rescinding "illegal" executive actions, directing the Department of Justice to investigate Planned Parenthood, telling federal agencies "the persecution of religious liberty ends today" and to "rip to shreds" a nuclear agreement signed with Iran,
MLive.com reports.
Then during a question and answer period that followed the stump speech, Cruz said the crisis that has seen Syrian refugees pouring into Europe to escape their civil-war torn nation is no excuse for the United States to open its doors.
"What President Obama is proposing to do, bring tens of thousands of Syrian Muslims to America, is nothing short of crazy," Cruz said, MLive.com reports.
Cruz also noted Director of National Intelligence Director
James Clapper's remarks early last month that the crisis provides an opportunity for Islamic State militants to attack targets in the West.
"It would be the height of foolishness to bring in tens of thousands of people, including jihadists who are coming here to murder innocent Americans," Cruz told the crowd, MLive.com reports.
"[W]ith respect to the refugees, it is a humanitarian crisis, but they ought to be settled in the Middle East, in majority Muslim countries."
The Obama administration announced last month it would welcome as many as 85,000 refugees in 2016, and that number would rise to 100,000 in 2017. So far this fiscal year, about
1,500 refugees have been allowed into the country.
During his speech, Cruz won several standing ovations — including the loudest applause for promises to take on the "bipartisan corruption of career politicians" and repeal "every word" of the Affordable Care Act, MLive.com reports.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.