Congressman Gabe Vasquez proposes legislation to address border security, immigration

Citing a 343% increase in migrant border crossings since 2020, New Mexico District 2 Rep. Gabe Vasquez is attempting to address immigration reform during his first term in Congress.

Speaking from a busy Santa Teresa Port of Entry on Monday, Vasquez announced his plan to introduce a package of five bills related to border security and immigration.

The bills address providing a pathway to citizenship and safe working conditions for migrant workers, stiffen penalties for human trafficking and drugs, call for investment in smart technology at the border and protection of detainees at federal detention centers.

"Since getting to Congress, I have thought about what comprehensive immigration reform might look like in the modern era when Congress is clearly broken," Vasquez said. "I wanted to do something meaningful for my community, I wanted to advance the conversation on immigration and also wanted to have a meaningful impact in creating and building wealth in our border communities."

Understanding immigration legislation proposed by Rep. Vasquez

Strengthening Our Workforce Act

The bill seeks to provide a pathway for permanent residency for migrant workers in professions such as healthcare, education, energy production and emergency response.

Workers in these professions would be allowed to apply for a two-year temporary provisional status that will allow them to remain and work in the U.S. legally. The provisional status requires at least 100 days per year of employment in one of these areas and after two years, workers would be eligible for immediate adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident after they go through current United States Citizenship and Immigration Services standards and procedures for final approval.

"It's a wakeup call for this nation to say those folks who we see every day deserve a pathway to citizenship," Vasquez said.

Stop Coyotes' oppression and organized trafficking and ensuring safety Act

This bill would mandate up to a 10-year sentence for individuals who are convicted of human trafficking-related crimes against a minor within a certain radius of areas with a high concentrations of children, such as schools, public parks, arcades and community centers.

"It is proposing that we leverage higher penalties for those who are caught human trafficking," Vasquez said. "For those caught drug smuggling and for those specifically that target minors. That is an additional 10-year penalty to show coyotes and human traffickers we are serious about not allowing this activity on our southern border."

It will also mandate increased communication between federal agencies and Congress regarding unlawful border crossings and the prevalence of human trafficking for the purposes of immigration, forced labor and commercial sex, along with the smuggling of drugs and firearms.

Smart Border Protection Act

This bill would invest in technology and personnel at the border, including non-intrusive inspection technology that can detect drugs like fentanyl at a larger rate. The introduction of this technology would allow for swifter inspection times for commercial vehicles, as well as create jobs.

"We have funding allocated for the installation of some of this technology at the different ports of entry, but the largest challenge we are hearing is that they don't have the personnel to permanently staff some of these operations," Vasquez said.

Vasquez said the Santa Teresa Port of Entry is one of the first to have an operation center to man the technology.

"I am asking for more Customs and Border Protection agents," Vasquez said. "These are the folks that are working at our ports and operating our customs process.

"We need to be able to make sure we recruit the right people from our community to be able to have these valuable jobs."

Humane Accountability Act

This bill would mandate a report to Congress on conditions within migrant detention centers, including death, abuse and sexual abuse of detainees, as well as reports of a lack of resources and access to legal services.

"That detention oversight bill seeks to bring the data out so that we can see how widespread the lack of resources and information have been so that we can take action to give asylum seekers their day in court and have legal representation," Vasquez said.

Farm Workforce Support Act

While Vasquez plans to work toward introducing all bills in the package in the coming days in a bipartisan manner, he partnered with Arizona Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani to introduce the Farm Workforce Support Act in April.

The bill seeks to address a shortage of agricultural workers by supplying temporary visas and ensure safe living and working conditions.

"The H-2A (temporary agricultural workers program) is broken," Vasquez said. "We can meet the moment of our economy, of rural economies in New Mexico currently with the migrant workforce we have."

Vasquez seeks bipartisan support in current political environment

Vasquez joined with Ciscomani in June to form the Bipartisan Southwest Caucus, but it's unclear what kind of support Vasquez will receive from a Republican party under new leadership. He said he currently has "16 or 17" Democrat co-sponsors for his legislation package.

"I think he (Ciscomani) is a great colleague so we are talking to him about some of these bills," Vasquez said. "We have Republicans who have shown interest, but until we get their co-sponsorships, I want to make sure those conversations are fruitful and I think some of them will be."

Last week, Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson was elected House Speaker three weeks after a group of Republicans led the effort to oust Kevin McCarthy.

"There is going to be a wing of the Republican party that wants to cause chaos that fundamentally doesn't think government should even exist and try to slow the process of what Republicans can do as a united body," Vasquez said. "We will have to find those common sense colleagues across the aisle that are going to be able to help us.

"I don't know too much about the new speaker and what he represents for the unity of the Republican party, but at least we have a functioning government, which we haven't had for three weeks and there is something to be said for that."

Jason Groves can be reached at 5750541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @jpgroves.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Congressman Gabe Vasquez proposes legislation to address border security, immigration