Texas lawmaker: Illegal immigration at US-Mexico border creating 'chaos'
Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, said the U.S.-Mexico border is in disarray and he is confident that President Trump will make good on his promise to close the border this week.
“We’ve run out of beds at the border. We are releasing immigrants who have crossed over illegally into the arms of human traffickers,” he told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Tuesday. “We have a massive problem at the border and I’m not really worried about the price of avocados right now.”
President Trump on Tuesday made a case in a tweet for closing the border.
"After many years (decades), Mexico is apprehending large numbers of people at their Southern Border, mostly from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador," he said. "They have ALL been taking U.S. money for years, and doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for us, just like the Democrats in Congress!"
Although it is unclear what a border closure, if any, would look like, Gooden said he is prepared for disorder created by any measure.
“We are in a state of chaos right now,” he said. “We have illegal immigration that has gone unchecked for years. We have built up to this point to where we have no control over who’s coming in and out of our country."
In his opinion, "temprorary pain at the border" is worthwhile if it means long-term “meaningful” border security.
"The negative consequences that come with closing the border just don’t outweigh fixing the problem at the border and President Trump stands ready to do that.”
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Gooden also said reports of migrants coming across the border and being released into migrant cities and wandering around in large numbers is “absolutely accurate” and “the American people are paying for it.”
“We’ve had disruption for decades. We have unchecked border entry. The people of Texas are fed up with this. The people of Texas want this border crisis solved," he said.