Texas Republican pushes back on notion that border situation ‘not that bad’

Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas) took aim at those who describe the U.S. border situation as “not that bad,” pointing to videos showing overcrowding at migrant facilities near the border.

Gonzalez said he visited El Paso, Texas on Friday and took some videos of the conditions near the border that he said showed an overcrowded room in a migrant processing center. He told CBS’s Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” that “we should not allow the ‘not that bad’ to be the normal.”

“This is what I’m hearing on the ground from mayors, from border patrol agents, from embedded media, everyone is saying it’s not that bad. So, on Friday, I visited El Paso and went to the Central Processing Center,” Gonzalez said.

“In that- in the El Paso sector. There’s over 6,000 people that are in custody in this particular facility. It’s meant to house 1,000 people, it’s housing over 3,000. In one of these rooms, it’s meant- the max capacity is 90 people, there was over 400 in here, that’s a 450 percent capacity,” he continued.

Title 42 – a pandemic-era rule that allowed for the rapid expulsion of asylum seekers – expired last week, prompting concerns that an surge of migrants would try to cross the border. Gonzalez said that Biden should have sent more immigration judges instead of increased numbers of troops to the border to meet the demand of cases.

“The alternative is bringing- the president should have surged- should surge, immigration judges to the border and that person should get their case heard in days, not years,” he added. “Right now, in El Paso, if you apply on the one app, I was at the port of entry, if you apply on the one app, your court date is 2031.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.