Transcript: Rep. Tony Gonzales on

The following is a transcript of an interview with Rep. Tony Gonzales, Republican of Texas, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Sept. 1, 2024.

NANCY CORDES: We are joined now by Texas Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us here in Washington. You represent a border district. You heard what Camilo just reported, and let’s put some numbers up on the screen so people really know what we’re talking about. All year long, the number of migrant encounters along the southern border was hovering a little below 200,000 a month. Then this executive order went into place in early June, and those numbers plunged to 100,000 in July, they were cut in half. Are you ready to call this move a success?

REP. TONY GONZALES: Nancy, it’s great to be here. You know, I represent nearly half of the overall southern border. I literally was on the border on Friday. What I can tell you is things are getting worse. And let me give you an example. So in the- in the New Mexico area, to date, there’s been 100 illegal immigrants that have perished. Okay, every part of the border is different. Parts of my district it takes you three days humping through the desert in order to make it to the border. In the New Mexico area, it takes you one hour. So, how is 100 people dying in one hour? The reason is these criminal organizations are holding these migrants in these stash houses for sometimes over a month, feeding them one meal and one bottle of water a day. So when it is time for them to finally make that trek, they give them caffeine pills and they try to rush them over. So in many- many cases, the humanitarian crisis along the border is getting worse. The other piece of it too in El Paso, one of the safest countries in America, the FBI just conducted an operation this week, and they scooped up dozens of these criminal gangs, these anti gang task forces. So in many cases, Americans are less safe because of this, and migrants are less safe because of this. I’ve been of the advocate, this is how you solve it. If somebody comes over illegally, they immediately get deported. You also double down on legal immigration if you- if we want to win the space race, we’re going to need engineers from all over the world. If we’re going to grow our economy, we’re going to need- we’re going to need the hospitality industry, construction workers and other areas. You double down on work visas, you vet people, and you double down on that. We’re not seeing any of that. 

CORDES: So, you’ve been pushing for the administration to take executive action for years. They’ve now done it, and you’re saying you’re not happy about it, even though the numbers have come down so sharply. 

REP. GONZALES: Well ask the 100 families that were- that died. This is a part of- the ugly part of it is so many people are dying- and those are the people that are dying. What about the people that are getting assaulted and other areas, it’s getting worse. So people are looking at the numbers and thinking, oh, it’s getting better. I look at it, who is coming over and what is happening to these people. In many cases, these criminal organizations, these Tren de Aragua, TDA, they’re growing in prominence, these Venezuelan gangs. They’re all over the country, and they’re seeping their- their tentacles into our society. We have to get ahead of this, and we need real solutions. That real solution is holding these people accountable, deporting people that aren’t here, and double downing- double down on legal work visas, people doing it the right way. 

CORDES:  Right, so there are bipartisan proposals to deal with these very complicated problems you’re describing. One of them was- was struck in the Senate, but former President Trump scuttled that deal, as you know, do you wish that he would have allowed that to go forward? 

REP. GONZALES: There were some positive things out of that, the border package that the Senate was working on, but there was some very negative things. I wouldn’t have voted for that. The reason I wouldn’t voted for it because it allowed 5000 people to break the law before you enact it, the numbers should always be zero. We can both be firm on illegal immigration, and there was no talk of legal immigration. What about rewarding those that are doing it the right way. What about our allies in Afghanistan that we’ve left behind? There’s some things that could have been done. That was a failed- it was a failed bill. There’s thousands of these bills, that was a failed bill before it even gets going. I’m looking for serious partners. 

CORDES: There’s a bipartisan bill in the House. Do you support that?

REP. GONZALES: Which bill? I mean, the bill that I look at it through the lenses is– 

CORDES: I’m talking about Congresswoman Escobar’s bill. 

REP. GONZALES: Oh that has no chance of going anywhere. You know why? Because it’s 500-pages long. So that gives you anyone, any one person, to say, I don’t like this bill. The other piece of it too is it talks about allowing people that are here illegally, pathway to citizenship. That is a- is dead on arrival. You don’t even want to go there. You have to start with securing the border and work visas, people that are vetted here to come. You want to talk about pathway to citizenship. That’s code for you really do not want to solve the problem.

CORDES: Okay, but, you say you want to solve the problem, and yet you don’t like any of the bipartisan proposals out there. Are you writing your own?

REP. GONZALES: I do. Yeah, I have a bill. It’s actually three-pages long, and what it does is it extends work visas from one year to three years, and it allows people to streamline the process. Instead of mailing in work visas, you do it online, like everyone else. And there’s also a border security piece to it too. So you can solve- you can do both. We can both be warm and welcoming, and we can both secure the border. All the proposals right now have no chance of it. And here’s another thing, when- when was- has Tim Walz ever been to the border? When was the last time he’s been to the border? So you have to see it. To hear these stories about the 100 migrants that have died in New Mexico, you have to see it firsthand. 

CORDES: You served in the Navy for 20 years as a veteran. I want to get your take on what happened this week at Arlington National Cemetery. The Secretary of the Army felt that she had to put out a statement saying that, “an ANC employee”, an Arlington National Cemetery employee, “who attempted to ensure adherence to the rules, was abruptly pushed aside” when the Trump campaign tried to bring a campaign photographer onto the grounds with the former president and then a top Trump adviser posted even after that. “I’m reposting this to hope to trigger the hacks at the secretary of Army’s office.” Have you ever seen a campaign talk this way about the military? 

REP. GONZALES: You know, the funny thing about President Trump is he gets all the attention, and no matter what he does, sometimes that gets spawned this way or the other. I can tell you that veterans–

NANCY CORDES: That’s not spin, that’s his own campaign staff. 

REP. GONZALES: Well, I can tell you veterans support Trump far and away, and the fact that he was there to highlight that the 13 Americans that were killed at Abbey Gate, I think that’s something that’s overlooked. Once again, I served in Afghanistan, unlike Tim Walz, who did not serve in Afghanistan. I’ve been there. I retired as an E-9, unlike Tim Walz, who retired as an E-8. It’s important for us to show up at the–

CORDES: Wait are you saying- I’m just curious when you- when you compare your service to Tim Walz, are you saying that he’s somehow less of a Veteran?

REP. GONZALES: I’m saying he lied about what pay grade he retired at. And I’m saying I’m not lying about the pay grade I retired at. I’m also saying it’s important that we- Arlington is a very special place. 

CORDES: It is.

REP. GONZALES: We have to make sure it’s a special place, and we have to keep politics out of it. And I think it’s important that we do that. And so, you know, I wish- I wish both President Trump and, you know, President Biden were there highlighting the fact of these Gold Star families. This is what we need to get back to. It’s so much finger pointing. I get it. It’s towards the tail end of the- of the election, but we have to get back to putting veterans first, putting our families first, and putting the American people above everything else.

CORDES: Congressman Tony Gonzales of Texas, thank you so much for being here with us this morning. 

REP. GONZALES: Thanks Nancy. 

CORDES: I appreciate it, and we’ll be back in a moment. Stick with us.