On Saturday, Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales (R-TX) delivered this week’s Republican Address on the ongoing border crisis under the Biden administration.
Rep. Gonzales’ address comes on the heels of Kamala Harris’ widely publicized visit to Guatemala and Mexico, where she met separately with Alejandro Giammattei and Andres Manuel López Obrador to address the root cause of migrants making the dangerous trek to the U.S.-Mexico border. Harris never visited the southern border on her trip, which subsequently became the talking point of her first international trip as vice president.
Gonzales, on the other hand, represents Texas's 23rd District, which includes over 800 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, amounting to 40 percent of the entire border. Seventy percent of his constituents are “proud Hispanic-Americans,” who are hurting more than ever because of illegal immigration at our southern border.
"The surge of people traveling illegally into the United States has created unprecedented challenges for law enforcement officers, farmers, ranchers, small business owners. And sadly, my communities have been abandoned by the current Administration. I speak with farmers and ranchers who have had water lines cut or fences destroyed. I hear from local mayors and judges whose cities experience high speed car chases every day between smugglers and border patrol. I receive texts and calls from friends who find contraband, weapons and drugs accidentally left behind on their property by smugglers.”
Gonzales elaborated, explaining how border cities are “overwhelmed” with the surge of immigrants making their way stateside.
“We have seen heartbreaking, overcrowded shelters for unaccompanied children, trucks full of people breaking down in the desert and groups crossing rivers in the middle of the night. People are risking their lives and making an incredibly dangerous journey, usually lasting weeks or months, to live in our country.” Gonzales said in his address.
To wrap things up, Gonzales shared his personal experience of attaining his idea of the “American dream,” and recognizes that although we are a nation of immigrants, we are also a nation of laws that need to be followed for those who want American citizenship.
"My life is the American dream. Abandoned by my father at two months old, spent time in a battered women's shelter, and after serving our great country in the Navy for 20 years, I am a U.S. Congressman. We have to protect the American Dream, where no matter where you start in life you can do and be anything. The most powerful thing about the American dream is that it does not have to start in America. The United States is a nation of immigrants but we are also a nation of laws. We need to secure our border, protect our neighbors from chaos and welcome those seeking a new opportunity through legal immigration."
Watch the address here: