President Obama blasts Ted Cruz's call for police patrols of 'Muslim neighborhoods'



less A picture released on March 22, 2016 by the belgian federal police on demand of the Federal prosecutor shows a screengrab of the airport CCTV camera showing three suspects of this morning's attacks at Brussels Airport, in Zaventem. Two explosions in the departure hall of Brussels Airport this morning took the lives of 14 people, 81 got injured. Government sources speak of a terrorist attack. The terrorist threat level has been heightened to four across the country. A picture released on March 22, 2016 by the belgian federal police on demand of the Federal prosecutor shows a screengrab of the airport CCTV camera showing three suspects of this morning's attacks at Brussels ... more Photo: -, AFP/Getty Images Photo: -, AFP/Getty Images Image 1 of / 62 Caption Close President Obama blasts Ted Cruz's call for police patrols of 'Muslim neighborhoods' 1 / 62 Back to Gallery

At a press conference Wednesday in Buenos Aires, Argentina, President Barack Obama criticized Texas senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz's calls for police patrols of "Muslim neighborhoods" in the United States.

Cruz made the proposition Tuesday after the Islamic State took credit for a string of bombings in Brussels, Belgium. But his comments drew heavy fire, and constitutional experts doubted the policy could legally be implemented.

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Obama called the proposal "wrong and un-American."

"As far as having surveillance of neighborhoods where Muslims are present, I just left a country that engages in that kind of neighborhood surveillance," Obama said, standing beside Argentine President Mauricio Macri. "The notion that we would start down that slippery slope makes absolutely no sense. It's contrary to who we are."

In a Facebook post that became a campaign press release Tuesday morning, Cruz outlined a list of policies to combat militant extremism from the Middle East. Among them, he wrote, "We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized."

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The Cruz campaign later elaborated: "It is going to require an empowered, visible law enforcement presence that will both identify problem spots and partner with non-radical Americans who want to protect their homes."

But the proposal drew swift rebuke. Many experts drew parallels with a program run by the New York City Police Department in the wake of 9/11, through which undercover officers and informants spied on Muslim communities. The city settled a lawsuit to end the program in 2016, after it produced no leads or arrests, but many allegations of constitutional infractions.

Also on Wednesday, NYPD commissioner William Bratton denounced Cruz's proposal while speaking on CBS.

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"He doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. Quite frankly, I took great offense at that statement," Bratton said. "I have almost 1,000 Muslim officers in the NYPD. Ironically, when he's running around here, we probably have a few Muslim officers guarding him."

Cruz on Tuesday argued that his proposal wouldn't target Muslims, just "radical Islamic terrorists."

But experts said that policing American Muslim neighborhoods would feed the narratives pushed by extremist groups--that the U.S. and the West are at war with the entire religion of Islam. And Obama backed that sentiment up.

"Not only is that inhumane, not only is that contrary to our values, but that would likely be an extraordinary mechanism for ISIL to recruit more people willing to die and explode bombs in and airport or in a metro station," Obama said. "That is not a smart strategy."