Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday claimed not to be familiar with one of the Democratic Party's favorite immigration talking points regarding children held in "cages" at the U.S. border with Mexico.
"How many children have been in the Biden cages in calendar year 2021?" Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) asked Mayorkas during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
"Senator, I respectfully disagree with your use of the term 'cages,'" Mayorkas responded.
Cruz was referencing the "kids in cages" talking point, which Democratic politicians relentlessly repeated during the Trump administration to describe the Obama-era practice of detaining immigrant children in cage-like structures while their parents were processed by the legal system. The practice has continued under President Joe Biden, despite his pledge to end it, as illegal immigration has surged to record levels on his watch.
"Fine, you can disagree with it," Cruz said. "I've been to the Biden cages, I've seen the Biden cages. How many children have you detained at the Donna [Texas] tent facility in the cages you built to hold kids? How many children have been in those cages?"
Mayorkas insisted that he not only disagreed with the term, he also didn't know what it meant. "I, respectfully, am not familiar with the term 'cages' and to what you are referring," he said.
Perhaps this video will refresh his memory.