Ted Cruz unleashes on Dems for ‘risking American lives’ with DHS shutdown

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, blasted Democrats on Wednesday for, in his view, dodging attempts to put an end to the funding lapse for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has stretched past the 40-day mark over disagreements about imposing safeguards on President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Cruz argued Democrats would endanger the country by allowing the enduring gridlock to continue.

"They are only responsive to their radical open-border base," Cruz said.

A compromise to separate out funding and ICE from the rest of DHS looked poised to finally break the stalemate earlier this week, but those talks stalled amid fierce criticism from both sides.

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To Cruz, the blame lies squarely with Democrats. Asked if they’re moving the goalposts, Cruz said there’s little doubt in his mind that’s the case.

"Of course they are. Chuck Schumer went on Morning Joe and said, "If the Republicans offer to fund everything except [Enforcement and Removal Operations] and ICE, that he will take that deal," Cruz said.

"And so, the Republicans came back, President Trump said, ‘We’ll take your deal.’ And [Chuck] Schumer just walked all the Democrats off and said, ‘No, we don't want that deal. We want a shutdown.’"

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Funding for DHS originally lapsed on Feb 14 when Democrats made their support for funding the DHS conditional on 10 operational reforms to ICE.

Among other items, Democrats demanded a ban on masks, more stringent warrant requirements for detaining suspects in public and visible identification for the agency’s agents.

Following a pair of deadly confrontations between Immigration enforcement agents in Minnesota and civilian protestors, Democrats argue that lawmakers must implement those reforms to ensure public safety.

Republicans have balked at those demands, arguing that they would handcuff Trump’s immigration enforcement plans.

Cruz believes there’s a greater danger to leaving the agency unfunded.

"We’ve had four terror attacks in the last two weeks all by radical Islamic terrorists," Cruz said. "DHS was created to prevent terror attacks and yet the Democrats are putting every American at risk because of their radical politics."

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A vehicle-ramming at a synagogue in Michigan, a university shooting in Virginia, the detonation attempts in New York and another shooting in Texas have left members like Cruz urging Democrats to fully fund the agency.

"The Democrats don’t care," Cruz said.

Among continuing talks, Republicans have presented Democrats with what they described as a "final offer." It remains unclear when the details of those negotiations will become publicly available.