Texas border Republican accuses GOP of using immigration crisis for politics – By Matthew Choi (Texas Tribune) / Feb 17, 2023
U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales said in an interview with the Washington Examiner that his fellow Republicans benefit politically from a sustained border crisis. The attack indirectly alluded to U.S. Rep. Chip Roy’s contentious border security bill.
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, accused his fellow Republicans of politicizing the border for their own benefit, further escalating his standoff with more conservative members of his party who he said stood to gain from a sustained migration conflict.
“Anyone who thinks a 3 page anti-immigration bill with 0% chance of getting signed into law is going to solve the border crisis should be buying beach front property in AZ,” Gonzales tweeted Thursday night in an apparent reference to border legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin.
Roy and Gonzales have been going head-to-head on border security for weeks. In January, Roy introduced legislation, dubbed the Border Safety and Security Act, to give the secretary of Homeland Security the ability to shut down border crossings and detain asylum-seekers while their cases are processed in court. Gonzales was one of the most vocal Republican opponents to that plan, saying it would in essence create a mechanism to end asylum — a characterization Roy denies.
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