Rep. Tony Gonzales pleads with Biden over border: ‘Beyond’ breaking point
Anna Giaritelli
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A House Republican who represents the largest district on the United States-Mexico border said the illegal immigration crisis was past its breaking point and made a desperate plea for the Biden administration and Congress to take serious action as soon as possible.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) toured hard-hit areas in Eagle Pass and El Paso Wednesday and Thursday and said what he had seen was beyond anything U.S. border officials have dealt with in the past three years.
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“We are absolutely at a breaking point, beyond a breaking point,” Gonzales said during a press conference in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday. “The finger-pointing is, I mean, it’s always somebody else’s fault. Enough with that. We have to get out of this. The first step to getting out of a hole: stop digging. The second step is find somebody that wants to get out of the hole with you.”
On Wednesday, Gonzales sent a letter to Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress pleading with them to take immediate action.
“Our southern border is in the worst state it has ever been. As the U.S. representative for the largest border district in Congress, I do not say that lightly,” Gonzales wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). “Today, I am calling on all lawmakers to take emergency action to secure our border. Failure to act may lead to a point of no return.”
By Thursday afternoon, Johnson had joined in with Gonzales and sent President Joe Biden a letter demanding that he take action “today.”
The impacts of the surge in illegal immigration over the past few weeks have been significant, not only in Texas but also in Arizona and California.
Across the eastern half of Arizona and the south-central region of Texas — both regions that stretch hundreds of miles east to west — all Border Patrol highway checkpoints have been shuttered. Their closures mean vehicles driving away from the border will not be inspected by federal law enforcement to ensure no people or drugs are hidden inside.
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Gonzales warned that the crisis is also having an unseen impact on national security.
“Beyond increases in drug smuggling at the border, years of counter-terrorism efforts are being undone,” Gonzales wrote. “Law enforcement is beyond their limits to continue holding the line and the possibility of a terrorist act being committed in relation to our open border is higher than ever.”