Congressman Tony Gonzales (TX-23) on Tuesday joined House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (NY-21), Whip Steve Scalise (LA-01) and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25) for a press conference, where Congressman Gonzales gave an update on the crisis at the southern border on July 19.

“Traditionally during the summer – the hottest months of the year – immigration flows go down, but that has not happened,” said Congressman Gonzales. “Numbers have only increased. We have seen almost 190,000 illegal apprehensions for the month of June and that number continues to rise. In Del Rio, yesterday, there were hundreds of migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, that were rushing to get in. The crisis has come to a boiling point.”

Transcript

“Good morning, everybody. Today is a historic day. Blue Origin launched humans into space from my district out in west Texas. It is also a historic day because at the border, the crisis continues to spiral out of control. We have seen historic numbers continue to rise.

Traditionally during the summer – the hottest months of the year – immigration flows go down, but that has not happened. Numbers have only increased. We have seen almost 190,000 illegal apprehensions for the month of June and that number continues to rise. In Del Rio, yesterday, there were hundreds of migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, that were rushing to get in. The crisis has come to a boiling point.

In that same breath, our border patrol agents are doing God’s work and saving lives. In the Del Rio sector alone, 1700 lives have been saved due to border patrol agents pushing forward in this humanitarian effort. In the sector next door, the Big Bend sector, they are putting up rescue beacons because it is so hot that migrants are dying in the desert because of this crisis.

Where is the Biden administration? On the sixth month anniversary of taking office, the Biden administration is nowhere to be found. They still will not highlight the fact that this crisis is getting worse. And even worse than that, there is talk of Title 42 going away in the next few days. If that happens, we will see historic immigration numbers skyrocket even more.

You are going to see innocent people, that are making this dangerous trek, that are dying in the desert. Those numbers are continuing to grow. Not to mention, the fentanyl that has come across. Not to mention, the sheer number of apprehensions. Meanwhile, last week, the House Appropriations Committee passed through a $1 billion decrease for border patrol agents.

So, while record numbers are happening right before us, this Administration is defunding border patrol as well as they are nowhere to be found. The crisis will continue to spiral out of control until leadership shows up – this is about leadership. The President needs to lead. And it is up to us in Congress to make sure that the President shows up.

I will continue to fight for communities along the border. I represent over 40 percent of the border. This crisis is continuing to spiral out of control and something needs to be done, and it starts with the President of the United States.”