US Border Crisis: Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales Slams 'Unacceptable' Tactics To Prevent Illegal Migration

Republican Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales is slamming the mistreatment of migrants in Texas amid reports of inhumane methods of trying to stem the US border crisis and migration.

The Republican represents a district that shares an 800-mile border with Mexico and slammed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's tactics to stop migration into Texas as "not acceptable."

"The border crisis has been anything but humane. I think you're seeing the governor do everything he possibly can just to secure the border," said Gonzales during an interview on CBS News' "Face the Nation" last Sunday.

While the Texas congressman admitted that he does not think the buoys are the problem, noting that migrants have been drowning in the Rio Grande trying to cross long before the barriers, he did say that such measures, which only add to the chances of migrants getting injured or drowning, are not acceptable.

"This is not acceptable. It's not acceptable and it hasn't been acceptable for two years," said Tony Gonzales. He also called on Congress to step up and give solutions to the US border crisis.

"I don't want to see one person step one foot in the water and more or less have us talk about the discussion of some of these inhumane situations that they're put in," the Texas congressman said. "We can't just wait on the president to solve things. We can't wait for governors to try and fix it themselves. Congress has a role to play in this."

Gonzales also told CBS News during the interview that he would "much rather" give a plan that deals with legal pathways on immigration as opposed to preventing illegal entry into the US, which is what some of his Republican colleagues are focusing on.

"What do we do with the millions of people that are already here? What do we do with the millions of people that are coming here illegally? How do we prevent them from taking these dangerous trucks? One of those options is through work visas," Gonzales suggested. With this, he introduced the HIRE Act, though he did not confirm if this bill he proposed would ever be up for a vote on the House floor.

Rep. Joaquin Castro Calls Texas Border Barriers 'Barbaric'

Democratic Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro also tore into Greg Abbott, according to MEDIAte. The Texas Democrat told CNN's Jim Acosta, "It's barbaric treatment, it's extreme cruelty. There's no need for that kind of cruelty."

He likened this type of treatment to totalitarian regimes like North Korea and added that "the governor has no right to be placing that razor wire or the barrel traps taken together. These things are death traps, beat to place them in the river."

Buoys and Razor Wire Not Deterring Migrants From Crossing Into Texas

Many of the migrants trying to cross the border are desperate to improve their lives. As such, despite the risks and the many traps that Gov. Greg Abbott has placed along the way, it seems that these would not deter many of them from trying to cross.

Andi Silveira and Yesimar Medina, a married couple who recently escaped Venezuela and have come to the US-Mexico border, recently spoke with the Austin American-Statesman and admitted that while they have heard of the horrifying stories of death and injury and threats of deportation, they are not deterred from crossing over.

"It's not time to wait," Medina told the newspaper, adding that it was only "a matter of finding a way around the traps." They tried to cross again before being met with all the traps Abbott set up.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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