El Paso, whose mayor has issued a state of emergency, is in a “dire scenario” owing to a “hurricane of migrants,” according to Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose district in West Texas runs for more than 800 miles along the US-Mexico border.
“This is something you do when there’s a hurricane, a fire, or an earthquake,” the Texas Republican said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “What is happening is it’s a hurricane of migrants, and everyone is impacted.”
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser, a Democrat, announced a state of emergency to give the city with resources and capacity to meet the massive influx of migrants, and Gonzales said on Sunday that the city is in the same situation that Del Rio was about a year ago.
“This is something you do when there’s a hurricane, a fire, or an earthquake,” the Texas Republican said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “What is happening is it’s a hurricane of migrants, and everyone is impacted.”
Gonzales stated on Sunday that El Paso is in a situation similar to what Del Rio was in about a year ago when Democratic Mayor Oscar Leeser proclaimed a state of emergency to provide the city’s officials the resources and capability to shelter the overwhelming number of migrants.
“I was just in El Paso a few days ago, and what I saw at the migrant center I had never seen before,” he said. “I have visited the processing center there many times. What I saw were hundreds, over 500 migrants in a pod — they call them pods — essentially a large cell that holds about 100 people. There’s one bathroom, and the odor is terrible. And there are eight pods in there. And so those are the good conditions.”
The lawmaker posted video of the facility online, claiming he visited it to demonstrate the situation’s realities and to let Border Patrol agents know they are not forgotten.
“It’s not about politics,” he said. “It’s not about you know, trying to create this image that isn’t there. This is the reality. These are the facts. We’re not even at the worst of it yet. Hundreds of people stuck in a small area are not good for everyone. What I also saw were people without socks and jackets. It’s going to be in the teens later this week. It’s a very sad situation all the way around.”
“There are some things that the administration can immediately do to alleviate this stress,” he said. “They can re-implement a couple of programs that made sense, PACER and the HEART program. That’s essentially having immigration judges at the border, meaning you get your asylum case heard in days, not years.”
Gonzales said he worries that if something isn’t done, “we may be shutting bridges down,” which will harm El Paso’s economy.
“El Paso produces $138 billion worth of trade,” he said. “If you shut down one day of that trade and commerce, that $60 million, it’ll impact everybody, not just those that live along the border.”
Gonzales acknowledged that the money was required but insisted that just pouring more money at the issue won’t make it go away. The Biden administration is asking Congress for $3.4 billion to prepare for the surge.
“You can have an unlimited amount of soft-sided facilities. The problem is enforcing the laws that are already on the books.”
The migrants are reportedly coming citing economic hardship but that doesn’t qualify you for asylumship.
“Work visas make sense to me,” said Gonzales. “A pathway to citizenship, amnesty, that is dead on arrival. What people have tried before has no chance of working.”
Gonzales said that once the Republicans assume control of the House on January 3, hearings to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas will “certainly take place,” but it won’t assist El Paso right now.
“I take impeachment extremely seriously,” he said. “Impeachment, that’s a long process. The city of El Paso needs help today, not a year from now.”
All of this was happening while Biden visited Arizona but refused to take the short trip to the border to witness his disaster first hand.