Casar Confronts Former ICE Director, House Republicans Push for 'Remain in Mexico" Policy

Texas Representative Greg Casar (D) recently confronted former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan over immigration reform.

In 2017, Homan looked over the raids in Texas seeking to find migrants who were criminals. According to Rep. Casar, Homan’s alleged actions were meant to portray migrants as criminals in an attempt to misrepresent them.

“I’m sick and tired hearing about the family separation. You know, I’m still being sued over that, so come get me,” said Homan in a 2023 CPAC panel.

“Immigrants make our country great, and we won’t stop fighting for them,” said Rep. Casar as he disagreed with Homan’s rhetoric.

Several Texas lawmakers have recently come out to criticize the Biden administration’s handling of the border and to offer what they viewed as a better solution.

“Remain in Mexico executive order would stop 70 percent of it. This isn’t money, this is policy,” said Texas Representative Jake Ellzey (R).

When asked if he endorsed Donald Trump, Rep. Ellzey stated that he would support whoever the Republican presidential nominee was.

Texas Representative Tony Gonzales (R) shared his thoughts on the impeachment of United States Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas’s impeachment.

“Whether it’s impeachment or something else, I think it’s time for a change," said Rep. Gonzales

Rep. Gonzales continued, “I mean, I think there’s work to still get done. There’s no impeachment vote, yet, the congressman added. “When that comes up, I think we’ll be able to have a more defined answer as to what exactly that is.”

Many Democrats have blamed the GOP for the issues at the border. However, Rep. Gonzales disagreed.

“You’re in Washington, it’s always somebody else’s fault. It’s always somebody else’s fault. I look at it through the lens of how do we solve this problem. Fentanyl hits, it kills everyone. Terrorist action hits, it kills everyone. I do think this is a topic that could unite us and should unite us, and I look forward to doing exactly that.”

Texas Representative Randy Weber (R) pointed to the controversial border legislation H.R. 2 as a way to fix the border.

“You know, there’s four things in H.R. 2…but they’re trying to blame us for things that absolutely needs to be done from H.R. 2.”

Rep. Weber claimed that the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy needed to be reinstated, as well as building the border. Furthermore, the Texas representative stated that the Biden administration should stop granting parole to migrants and put an end to catch-and-release policies.

In response to the idea that President Joe Biden could or would fix the border with executive action, Rep. Weber stated, “It’s election year. If he’s going to all of a sudden shutdown the border, we’ll take it. But in the meantime, we ought to back it up with the law that says ‘Look, this can’t go on.’”

Rep. Casar accused the Republican policies of being counterintuitive and beneficial for Mexican cartels. His reasoning is based on the idea that the GOP’s “slashing” of funding for mental health and addiction services drives people toward the cartels who sell and smuggle drugs.

“If I was a cartel leader, I would be picking the Republican policies,” said the congressman.