A New Mexico congressman is challenging Texas’ new concertina wire border wall, recently installed between New Mexico and Texas.
Last month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the creation of a border wall between the two states to deter illegal aliens who are crossing from Mexico into New Mexico, then traveling into Texas.
The wire wall was placed between Sunland Park, New Mexico—a town that borders Mexico—and El Paso.
According to Abbott, the decision was made in response to illegal aliens traveling into Texas from New Mexico after border walls were put up between Mexico and El Paso.
“Our barriers around El Paso forced the migrants crossing illegally to enter into New Mexico,” Abbott wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “They then entered into El Paso from there. To end that, we are building a barrier on the New Mexico border.”
Once the wire was put up, U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D–NM) immediately began challenging the decision.
“To me, this is just one of many political stunts that the Texas governor has cooked up to demonize immigrants, and that provides no real long-term solution to the crisis we’re facing,” Vasquez told NPR.
He has not let up on his agitation regarding the border wall.
Vasquez posted a message to Abbott on X, telling him, “Your wall between New Mexico and Texas is unconstitutional.”
“The governor’s actions are insulting to New Mexicans,” said Vasquez. “Putting up concertina wire between two states in the United States is first unconstitutional, and it’s, second, disrespectful to the community here at Sunland Park.”
“Both El Pasoans and New Mexicans live in bi-national communities, and impeding that way of traffic, impeding that way to get from one state to another without any consultation either with local officials, state officials, county officials, or even myself, a federal representative is the wrong way,” he continued.
Vasquez is arguing that there are “better” solutions to the illegal immigration problem.
“I am asking for more Customs and Border Protection Agents, which there is a difference between Border Patrol agents, these are the folks that are working at ports operating our customs process, so our bill addresses that it asks for more agents to actually come up with the support for hiring and actually make that hiring process a little bit easier,” he said.
He recently introduced a package of measures regarding the border and illegal aliens.
One bill aims to “support migrant workers who fuel our economy by providing a pathway to lawful permanent residency for critical workers.” Another is meant to “address our agricultural workforce shortage with H-2A visas while ensuring safe working and living conditions.”
A measure to “go after coyotes and cartels who continue to harm, traffic, sexually assault, and kill migrant women and children” is also part of his package.
The next seeks to “invest in smart technologies at the border, additional personnel, and improve the quality of infrastructure at our ports of entry to ensure that our border communities are safe.”
The last measure plans to “hold immigrant detention centers accountable to protect detainees from poor living conditions.”
“When the governor wants to get something done on immigration and reforming border security, I welcome him to talk to our office,” Vasquez stated in his message to Abbott on X.
Meanwhile, Texas continues to take unprecedented action to combat the ongoing border crisis.
According to Abbott’s office, “Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to over 480,000 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 35,700 criminal arrests, with more than 32,500 felony charges reported. In the fight against the fentanyl crisis, Texas law enforcement has seized over 434 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.”
As of publication, Abbott’s office did not respond to Texas Scorecard’s request for comment on Vasquez’s statements.
