Texas Republican accuses Democrats of using migrants as ‘political pawns’

Republican Rep. Chip Roy (Texas) on Sunday accused Democrats of using immigrants as “political pawns” amid a surge of border crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso, Texas.

“Democrats want to simply throw more money at the border and then process more human beings while they’re getting abused. They’re the ones using them as political pawns for their crass political purposes. They’re using the Hispanic community,” Roy said on “Fox News Sunday” with host Shannon Bream.

The mayor of El Paso on Saturday declared a state of emergency as migrants overwhelmed shelters at the border. The influx comes just a few days ahead of the Wednesday expiration date of Title 42, a Trump-era immigration policy that restricted asylum-seekers.

A renewed surge of migration to the U.S. is expected as Title 42 is lifted, exacerbating the ongoing border crisis and tensions between the parties over the issue.

Roy on Sunday said Democrats have shown “no interest in actually working to try and secure the border,” citing a 2018 hard-line immigration bill introduced by former Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) that failed to pass the House when every Democrat and 41 Republicans voted against it.

With Republicans ready to take control of the House in the next Congress, Roy said that talk of a pathway to citizenship for migrants brought into this country as children is “dead on arrival” until Democrats “actually talk about securing the border.”

And securing the border “means turning people away and detaining them rather than processing and releasing them,” Roy said.

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