Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is calling on Congress to crack down on accepting refugees after a series of weekend explosions, saying it’s “past time to take off the blinders.”
“Congress should act to prevent Americans who have travelled abroad for training from returning here, and to stop the flow of refugees from hotbeds of terrorism in the Middle East that President Obama is determined to bring to our country,” Cruz, who has been a vocal critic of the Obama administration’s terrorism policy, said in a statement on Monday.
{mosads}It comes after Ahmad Khan Rahami, a suspect wanted in connection with explosions in New York and New Jersey, was taken into custody. Rahami, 28, is a U.S. citizen who was born in Afghanistan.
Cruz added that the attacks, including a separate stabbing in a Minnesota mall, indicate that the country is “moving into a new phase of the war against ISIS and al-Qaida,” referring to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
President Obama said Monday there was no connection between the East Coast bombings and the stabbing in Minnesota, where the suspect was identified in reports as Dahir A. Adan, 22.
His father told the Star Tribune that Adan was born in Kenya but grew up in the U.S. Ahmed Adan, who is Somali, said his son came to the U.S. 15 years ago, according to the Associated Press.
Dahir Adan was admitted to the U.S. as a refugee, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill.
Family members told the Tribune the suspect was beginning his third year as a student at St. Cloud State University.
“We can’t overcome our enemies by pretending they don’t exist, and undermining our first line of defenders. Only together, clear-eyed and determined, can we defeat this foe,” Cruz said.
The Texas senator has pushed legislation for years that would revoke citizenship for anyone fighting with, or providing material support to, ISIS and terrorist groups abroad. He also renewed his push to block President Obama’s plan to increase the number of Syrian refugees accepted into the United States in the wake of a terrorist attack in Brussels earlier this year.
In addition to limiting the acceptance of some refugees, on Monday Cruz also called for supporting law enforcement and working with the American Muslim community.
Jesse Byrnes contributed to this report.
Updated 2:43 p.m.