I represent a border district that was swamped by illegal immigration. What I’m seeing now might surprise you
It’s a new day in America. For four years, Americans watched as the Biden administration pointed the finger at everyone but themselves for the messes they created — including the worst border crisis in our nation’s history. While Biden administration officials tried to hide behind a smoke-and-mirrors illusion that our border was secure, reality told a different story.
I serve Texas’ 23rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. From San Antonio to El Paso, our corner of the country spans 823 miles of the Texas-Mexico border. Eagle Pass, Del Rio and El Paso, all within my district, were among the border communities hit hardest by illegal immigration surges.
During the first year of President Joe Biden’s tenure, I shook his hand, offering him an olive branch and the opportunity to find a way forward to not only safeguard our borders but to lay the foundation for an immigration system that is orderly, lawful and puts the best interests of the American people first.
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Instead, the opposite happened. At every turn, each proposed solution was met with resistance and bureaucratic grandstanding or was tossed aside as it became evident that those in the West Wing had no interest in solving the problem at hand. A few months after I spoke with the former president, we received the first taste of what would come under the Biden administration’s broken border agenda.
In 2021, thousands of Haitians flocked to Del Rio, a border community shy of 35,000 people. The days that followed were nothing short of a nightmare. Del Rio’s resources were quickly drained, forcing the caravan to wait in a makeshift camp for days on end. Illegal border crossings began to rise sharply over time in Eagle Pass and El Paso, and in 2023, both communities reached a breaking point. Pedestrian bridges and rail crossings were forced to suspend operations to pull agents out of the field to process the sheer number of people coming into the country illegally.
Meanwhile, the federal government focused its attention on major cities with sanctuary policies, all while border communities were left in the dust to fend for themselves.
After four years of policies that tore the fabric of our immigration system, rewarded those who broke our laws and attracted criminals from across the globe to seek entry into the United States, Americans can take a breath.
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Within hours of taking office, President Donald Trump took executive action on many priorities I’ve fought hard for in Congress for years. Deadly cartels and violent transnational gangs, such as MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, who took advantage of loopholes in our laws to peddle deadly fentanyl into our country and cause chaos in our cities, were designated as foreign terrorist organizations. Trump’s successful Remain in Mexico policy was put back on the books, and illegal criminal aliens are finding themselves on one-way flights out of our nation.
Many of the deportation flights have taken off from Biggs Army Airfield located on Fort Bliss in El Paso. I recently traveled to the base to meet with military leadership and Border Patrol agents, and it’s evident they are prepared for the mission at bay. With troops deployed across the southern border to assist — it’s all hands on deck to get our country back on track.
Local, state and federal officials have embraced a renewed commitment to work with each other to make America safe again — and our upgraded commander-in-chief set the tone. Instead of tying the hands of our law enforcement agencies and tiptoeing around the truth to appease radical pro-amnesty fringe groups, the new cast calling the shots in Washington is focused on the majority of Americans who just want to see common sense prevail.
As we reverse the damage open border policies have put upon our nation, we cannot lose sight of the root issues that have plagued our immigration system for decades. With leadership in the White House that puts patriotism and the rule of law at the helm, now is the moment to implement changes to our immigration laws that preserve our founding principles first.
The everlasting American exceptionalism that sent man to the moon will be the force that takes us to Mars. That spirit has fostered a nation where the world’s best and brightest invest in and proudly integrate into our way of life. A system built on law and order while ensuring the American dream is within reach for those who have earned their stripes, chosen to embrace our values, and contributed to our nation’s prosperity is a system that will stand the test of time — and will result in a secure, safe and prosperous tomorrow in our country.
