Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales believes that instead of releasing migrants into the United States to wait years for a court date, President Joe Biden should instead send immigration judges to the border to more quickly determine whether or not they have legitimate asylum claims.
Appearing on CBS’s “Face The Nation,” Gonzales argued that the current process of releasing migrants is insufficient because court dates can be as far out as eight years down the road while explaining that the majority of asylum seekers won’t qualify for asylum anyway.
“The president should surge immigration judges to the border,” Gonzales told host Margaret Brennan when asked for an alternative to the current strategy. “That person should get their case heard in days, not years.”
“Right now in El Paso, if you apply on the One App … your court date is 2031,” he added. “That’s eight years from now.”
Texas Rep. @TonyGonzales4TX says the alternative to releasing migrants is that President Biden should "surge" immigration judges to the border and that migrants should get their case heard in days, not years. Adding, " This is America. Get your day in court." pic.twitter.com/c1drN3qgd0
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 14, 2023
Gonzales said Biden should have sent judges, not troops, to the border because “nine out of ten” migrants don’t qualify for asylum. Gonzales shared footage from an overcrowded Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility in El Paso, which he said shows the situation is worse than it’s being made out to be.
“This is what I’m hearing on the ground from mayors, from border patrol agents, from embedded media, everyone is saying it’s not that bad,” Gonzales said, adding that he decided to take a look for himself.
Gonzales said more than 6,000 migrants in the El Paso sector are currently in custody and that the facility he filmed is meant to hold 1,000 people – not the 3,000 he says it’s currently housing. Gonzales notes that one of the rooms was intended to hold 120 people but was holding more than 700. “This is what ‘not that bad’ looks like,” Gonzales said.
“We can’t allow ‘not that bad’ to be the normal,” he said, adding that a migrant child died in HHS custody last week.
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NEW: Video courtesy of TX Congressman @RepTonyGonzales office shows significant overcrowding in Border Patrol’s Central Processing Center in El Paso, TX on Friday. He says they have a max capacity of around 1,000, but there were 6,000 that day. This room capacity 120, but had 750 pic.twitter.com/4cdULVXXTO
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 14, 2023
His comments come after Title 42, the pandemic-era rule that allowed authorities to turn away migrants at the border based on public health grounds, ended on Thursday. According to the Border Patrol union, as of last week, CBP was holding roughly 28,000 illegal immigrants at detention facilities, a number beyond capacity, according to Reuters.
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported a “record setting” 83,000 illegal immigrants crossed the Southern Border last week alone.