U.S. News
Floating Wall: Texas Rep Takes on Texas Gov Over ‘Inhumane’ Border Barrier
By Belal Awad · July 23, 2023
United States Representative Vicente Gonzalez Jr. has publically called out Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s handling of border safety along the US-Mexico border, describing his latest project - building a razor-wire-enhanced “floating wall” along the Rio Grande - as “inhumane” and “abusive.” The Democratic Congressman from Corpus Christi voiced his disappointment with the governor’s tough border policies, particularly his use of buoy deterrents.
Gonzalez told CNN, “These are grandstanding ideas that our governor has decided to display to the United States. They don’t make sense. They’re inhumane. It’s abusing women and children and elderly in 110-degree weather that have already struggled to get to that place.” He stressed the need to find ethical and humane ways to handle the flow of migrants across the southern border.
The congressman also noted the physical harm inflicted on immigrants by the governor’s measures, saying, “It’s inhumane when you see humans come into the border with scars and cuts on their body by something that only one governor in the entire country has decided to do.”
Asked about the main concerns of his district’s constituents, Gonzalez said their chief concern in fact border security: “My constituents just want to keep our borders safe, first of all, and keep trade and commerce and tourism crossing the border safely. But they don’t like these eyesores that they see that are have been displayed by just really one person in our state government.”
As for Governor Abbott’s defense of Operation Lone Star, Gonzalez argued that there exist clear boundaries of authority between state and federal authorities. He said, “There’s a point where the state’s jurisdiction ends and the federal jurisdiction begins. And certainly along the border in the middle of the river, defending our borders have always been a federal jurisdiction.”
The Biden administration’s Justice Department has now announced plans to sue the State of Texas over Abbott’s controversial border barrier.
Light Wave commentary
While the issue of border control is undoubtedly complex and multifaceted, the need for a more humane and collaborative approach is critical. There are lives at stake. Millions of people from all over the world want to live in the United States. Democrats prefer to address the issue with largely with an open-border approach. Republicans want a well-regulated immigration process. The nation must find consensus soon. And if the two parties would lay down their ideological swords and talk instead of brawl, consensus might actually happen.