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Cruz calls for patrols of Muslim neighborhoods

By NOLAN D. MCCASKILL and ELIZA COLLINS

Ted Cruz on Tuesday called for a freeze on any new refugees from areas affected by Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, as well as new powers for law enforcement to patrol “Muslim neighborhoods.”

“We need to immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant Al Qaeda or ISIS presence,” the Texas senator said in a statement. “We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.”

Cruz's proposal would seemingly apply to refugees from Syria, Iraq and many other countries in the Middle East, central Asia and Africa.

Asked for specifics about Cruz's call for “empowering law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods," Cruz communications director Alice Stewart declined to elaborate. “It's pretty self-explanatory,” she said.

Cruz’s comments come after the Islamic State claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks in Brussels. A series of explosions at an airport and metro station have resulted in at least 31 deaths, and more than 170 people sustained injuries. He suggested the coordinated attacks “murdered and maimed dozens of innocent commuters at subway stations and travelers at the airport. They—we—are all part of an intolerable culture that they have vowed to destroy.”

The Republican presidential candidate said Western countries can no longer deny that radical Islamic terrorism exists. “Our European allies are now seeing what comes of a toxic mix of migrants who have been infiltrated by terrorists and isolated, radical Muslim neighborhoods,” he said.

Cruz said the U.S. should secure its southern border to stop terrorists from flowing in and called on the country to “execute a coherent campaign to utterly destroy ISIS.”

“The days of the United States voluntarily surrendering to the enemy to show how progressive and enlightened we are at an end,” he said. “Our country is at stake.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned Cruz's push for new law enforcement powers in Muslim neighborhoods.

“His proposal is dangerous, hateful and unbefitting of one of the leading presidential candidates,” Nihad Awad, the group's executive director, said in an interview. “We believe that all Americans should condemn that anti-Muslim proposal because it is anti-American and it is unconstitutional.”

She added: “We believe that Ted Cruz is a religious zealot running for president in the United States making biased and hateful statements [about] American Muslims because of their faith.”