Sen. Ted Cruz has a question for his lower chamber nemesis, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Where's the white pantsuit now?

Yes, it seems that as the border crisis turns into a deluge, particularly in Cruz's home state of Texas, there are no photo shoots of AOC in a lachrymose state.

Instead, hours before Title 42 expired, neither she nor any major Democrat wanted to draw too much attention to it -- something Cruz addressed in Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday.

"We are witnessing an absolute travesty unfolding on our southern border," Cruz said in remarks delivered before the Biden administration shifted away from a pandemic-era policy that allowed for the summary deportation of most illegal immigrants.

"On Monday, we apprehended over 10,000 people on the border -- the highest level in history. On Tuesday, we apprehended over 10,000 people on the border again, the highest level in history," the senator said.

"Just in this location, in less than a month, we've had over 35,000 Venezuelans cross illegally just right here," he continued. "Every day, just right here, they're encountering 90 to 100 Chinese nationals."

"They are being smuggled in by Mexican drug cartels, and I have to say I am angry because this is deliberate," Cruz said, adding that the crisis has sprung from "a decision that was made by President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and congressional Democrats to open up the border to what is nothing less than an invasion."

"Ask yourself, why is President Biden not here? Why is Kamala Harris not here? Why is Elizabeth Warren not here? Why is AOC -- she still owns the white pantsuit -- why is she not here with her head buried in her hands? Because they don't give a damn about the dead bodies."

"This is an invasion, and they want the numbers to go up."

I'm in Brownsville hours before Title 42 expires. We are witnessing an absolute travesty unfolding on our southern border. #BidenBorderCrisis pic.twitter.com/mv2aYaoLwV

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 12, 2023

Just in case you're unaware of what Cruz is talking about, in 2018, AOC -- then just a Democratic nominee for the House of Representatives who had won an upset in a primary in which few people even voted -- wore a white pantsuit for a photo shoot near a facility where illegal immigrants were being detained.

The photographer called her a "fairly unknown House candidate." He apparently didn't turn on the TV very often during the summer of 2018, since AOC was nigh omnipresent in those days.

Before @AOC hit the national stage & was just a fairly unknown House candidate frm NYC,she took time awy frm her campaign & came dwn to #Tornillo to protest the #tentcity housing migrant children.I made these previously unpublished fotos a yr ago today. #elpaso #aoc #onassignment pic.twitter.com/SWyyI1XVt9

— Ivan Pierre Aguirre : 🥑 (@i_p_a_1) June 25, 2019

So, where's the white pantsuit? Back up north trying to get work permits for those who flood over the border, naturally:

New Yorkers & small businesses have made clear that we are ready to employ our migrant neighbors.

And our newly arrived NYers have stated clearly that they want to support themselves safely.

Let’s get it done. We are asking the Federal gov to grant us work authorizations! https://t.co/rjkphHszUS

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 12, 2023

And if she's successful, those illegal migrants will be here for the long haul. As the New York Post reported Thursday evening, some of the migrants entering the U.S. illegally were given court dates as far out as 2035.

The flood could be extensive.

In the autumn of 2021, preparing for the potential lifting of Title 42 in April 2022, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas predicted monthly apprehensions in the 350,000 to 400,000 range as a "worst-case scenario." That's compared to the roughly 162,000 illegal migrants apprehended this March before the floodgates were opened, according to CBS News.

So, where are the Democrats? Where is the white-pantsuited AOC? Nowhere near the border, that's for sure.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.