Escobar Celebrates Reopening of Railroad Crossings

Texas Representative Veronica Escobar (D) celebrated the recent reopening of railroad crossings along the Texas-Mexico border.

In a tweet, Rep. Escobar shared that her team had communicated with the Biden administration on how to address the border issue.

"My team and I have stayed in close contact with @CBP, the @WhiteHouse, and industry leaders as they’ve assessed the best response to added pressure at our border. I’m glad to see operations at our international railway crossings resume, particularly during the holiday season," said Rep. Escobar.

"Permanent, wholistic, and bipartisan solutions must be considered to ease the burden felt my border communities. My bill, the Dignity Act is the answer."

On Dec. 18, Customs and Border Protection shut down railways along the U.S.-Mexico border. The purpose of the move was to free up customs workers to assist border patrol agents. That said, the move was costly as it caused an estimated loss of over $200 million.

Border security has been a pressing issue, especially for Texas lawmakers. In a new attempt to send migrant workers to Democrat-led cities, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) sent a plane full of migrants to Chicago.

The plane left El Paso on Tuesday and contained 120 migrants who were transported from the U.S.-Mexico border. The move is part of Gov. Abbott's much-talked-about program, Operation Lone Star.

Both the Chicago mayor, Brandon Johnson, and the Biden administration condemned the Texas governor's actions.

“Yet again, Governor Abbott is showing how little regard or respect he has for human beings,” said White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández.

“This latest political stunt just adds to his tally of extreme policies which seek to demonize and dehumanize people.”

“Until President Biden steps up and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue taking historic action to help our local partners respond to this Biden-made crisis,” said Andrew Mahaleris, spokesperson for the Abbott administration.