Rep. Gonzales: Migrant Border Injuries 'Not Acceptable'

Rep. Tony Gonzales on Sunday said it is "not acceptable" that immigrants are being injured while trying to bypass floating barriers in the Rio Grande River and razor wire fencing that's been installed at illegal border crossings, but would not criticize Gov. Greg Abbott for taking steps to protect the border.

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

However, he said that there is a state vs. central government issue "going back and forth" as a desperate situation is happening in Texas.

"What I'm seeing is people are getting injured along the border," Gonzales said. "People are drowning, certainly, in that river."

This past week, a Texas state trooper said the new methods at the border put migrants at risk, particularly young children, who face the dangers of drowning and injury. The trooper also claimed Texas officials were directed to withhold water from migrants and push them back into the river, and in one instance, he said he and his team had to rescue a woman who was caught in razor wire and having a miscarriage.

The Biden administration has notified Abbott that it plans to sue the state over the buoys, but the governor insisted the state has the authority to defend the border and blamed the Biden administration for the crisis.

Gonzales on Sunday said thinks the buoys are just "very small, little portion of the river" and he does not think they are the entire problem as hundreds of migrants have drowned in the Rio Grande over the years.

"I am concerned though that, you know, I've seen reports that the DPS troopers, over a dozen, have filed complaints about what is happening," said Gonzales. "One statement in particular, I saw an individual that is an Iraq veteran that's saying, you know, some of the humanitarian camps in Iraq were treated better than what's happening along the border."

Another part of the issue is that "you're having people at the very top say one thing and then the people down at the ground do another," said Gonzales.

"The governor no doubt is doing everything he can to secure the border, but there is a disconnect between what is happening at the top and the person at the ground that is doing the actual function," he added. "I would be happy to host the president of the United States at Eagle Pass and walk through this situation."

Meanwhile, the congressman said Congress must step up and offer solutions about the border.

Gonzales recently introduced the HIRE Act (Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment), which if passed, will make it easier for migrants to obtain temporary work visas in hopes of addressing national workforce shortages.

"What do we do with the millions of people that are already here?" he said. "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."

However, he would not say if he's had confirmation from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that his legislation, which has a dozen GOP co-sponsors and six Democrat co-sponsors, will come up for a vote in the GOP-controlled House.

"The bill has 18 — 18 — co-sponsors," he said. "That's a good start. I've got about 40 outside sponsors to include the Chamber of Commerce, to include the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Farm Bureau, so a lot of it relies on the rank and file coming together."

The number of illegal entries is dropping, and Gonzales conceded that the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas deserve some credit for that, even though there are other reasons as well.

"It's also 115 degrees in Texas right now," he said. "A lot of people are waiting until a cooler part of the year to come over. But once again, I don't want one person to step one foot in that river illegally."