GOP zeros in on South Texas Dem who urged Trump to 'allow people to cross freely'
FIRST ON FOX: A Democratic congressman representing a South Texas district that Donald Trump carried by double digits is emerging as a top Republican target, with the GOP arguing Rep. Vicente Gonzalez’s shifting border record has left him politically exposed at home.
Though traditionally a Democratic stronghold, heavily Hispanic South Texas has trended sharply Republican in recent election cycles. Gonzalez narrowly won his 2023 election over former Rep. Mayra Flores by less than three percentage points. Additionally, the Texas redistricting push last year made Gonzalez’s district seven points more Republican. The race is widely considered a toss-up leaning Republican — one of the few pickup opportunities for the GOP in an unfavorable political climate.
Republican National Committee spokesperson Zach Kraft told Fox News Digital that Gonzalez’s record on border security and former President Joe Biden has come back to bite him, leaving him "like a fish out of water" in his district.
Gonzalez, however, dismissed these criticisms as Republicans "grasping at straws." He emphasized that "If you look at my record, you’ll see I was one of the toughest Democrats in the country on President Biden’s approach to our southern border, and I continue working to fix our broken immigration system, support CBP and Border Patrol, and rid our streets of criminals."
Under the redrawn Texas congressional map, Gonzalez’s district in the Rio Grande Valley is one that President Donald Trump won by 10 points in 2024, according to the Texas Tribune.
Highly optimistic about the GOP’s chances, Kraft said that South Texans "do not want to go back to the Biden days where cartels controlled the border and endangered the lives of farmers, families, and Border Patrol agents."
Gonzalez opposed construction of a border wall in 2019, calling it a "4th-century solution to a 21st-century problem," according to CBS News.
The outlet also quoted Gonzalez denying there was a crisis at the border in 2019, saying, "When people talk about violence streaming across the border, it's just nonsense."
During the Biden administration, Gonzalez took a mixed approach to border policy, at times urging the White House to curb "disorderly" crossings while also pushing for expanded asylum pathways and a more "humane process" for migrants. In 2023 he was critical of Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's efforts to secure the border, accusing him of "grandstanding ... about the way he is treating brown people," according to the Rio Grande Guardian.
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At the same time, Gonzalez said that by adding additional penalties to crossing illegally after the end of Title 42, Biden and then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas "positively impacted our border," adding, "and that's a fact."
"People could point fingers and say things, but the reality is, undocumented crossings are down by 70 percent," he said.
Border crossings briefly dropped by roughly 65% to 70% after the end of Title 42, a COVID-era public health order that allowed authorities to quickly expel illegal border crossers. However, crossings climbed to record highs later that year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. Approximately 11 million border encounters occurred over the course of Biden’s four years in office, according to DHS.
In Biden’s final year in office, Gonzalez voted for a House resolution condemning the "national security and public safety crisis" at the southern border, warning that migrants were arriving in "historic numbers." He has also said the border was "out of control" under the Biden administration.
Since Trump returned to the Oval Office, Gonzalez has also gone on the record, saying, "I'm happy to see that the border is under control," according to the Rio Grande Guardian.
In an unearthed interview last year, Gonzalez urged Trump to "lighten up" enforcement and "allow people to cross freely" if vetted, arguing such migrants are "a very important part of our economy."
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During the same interview, Gonzalez asserted, "We need to find a pathway" for illegal immigrants who have been in the country for decades to "be here legally, pay taxes, pay social security and really get them out of the shadows."
Gonzalez’s Republican opponent, Eric Flores, an Army veteran and former prosecutor, told Fox News Digital that "South Texas has paid the price for his total failure."
"Vicente Gonzalez built his record on policies that opened the border and tied the hands of the very federal agents sworn to protect us," he went on. "I’ve worked alongside Border Patrol and law enforcement on the front lines, both as a Soldier and as a federal prosecutor. I will always stand with them."
In response, Gonzalez told Fox News Digital that "Eric Flores and the NRCC [National Republican Congressional Committee] are drowning and grasping at straws."
"If you look at my record, you’ll see I was one of the toughest Democrats in the country on President Biden’s approach to our southern border, and I continue working to fix our broken immigration system, support CBP and Border Patrol, and rid our streets of criminals — something this Administration claims it is doing, but instead let DHS shutdown and fixates on targeting law-abiding individuals and their families," he said.
"The truth is, Republican voters in South Texas are turning away from the extreme mass deportation policies Rubber Stamp Eric will support. The same ones that have led to American citizens being murdered on our streets and labor shortages that are making housing and other essentials more expensive."
Fox News Digital also reached out to a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for comment.