Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, the congressman representing one of the largest border districts in the country, said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tried to “bulls—” him and other lawmakers about the severity of the immigration crisis during a recent conversation.
“We discussed a wide variety of things, but one of the things that I mentioned in particular, I was like, ‘Look, the migrant situation’s absolutely chaotic and terrible, but what keeps me up at night is another 9/11-type of event.’ And when you have all of your Border Patrol agents — it’s not only in the Del Rio sector, it’s the surrounding sectors as well — that all kind of come to Del Rio to handle this situation, that literally leaves our border wide open,” Gonzales recalled saying, according to the Washington Examiner. “There’s hundreds of miles that aren’t are being patrolled at all. Checkpoints are closed down.”
Mayorkas allegedly responded by being “dismissive” of Gonzales’s security concerns.
“‘No, no, no. Everything is under control,’” Mayorkas said, according to Gonzales.
The Republican congressman slammed Mayorkas for trying to downplay the crisis.
“No, don’t tell me, ‘Everything’s under control.’ It’s not under control. Because like, I know it’s not under control. You can bulls— somebody else, but you can’t bulls— me,” he said.
The migrant crisis in the Del Rio sector has escalated in recent weeks as thousands of Haitian and Central American migrants have rushed the southern border in an attempt to gain access to the country.
Those denied entry have been camped underneath a bridge in filthy conditions, according to several reports, and hundreds of Texas state troopers have been deployed to assist federal immigration officers get control of the situation.
“There are no second chances” when it comes to border security, Gonzales said. “You have to get it right every single time, or it’s game over.”
