Republican Says Trump Deportation Plan is Unworkable. Can Illegal Immigration Crisis Be Solved?

A Texas Republican has cast doubt on former President Donald Trump’s proposed mass deportation plan, arguing that the United States lacks the necessary “infrastructure” to implement it.
Immigration is a key issue in this year’s presidential race, with both candidates presenting contrasting policies. Trump is proposing mass deportations, while Vice President Kamala Harris has pledged to revive President Joe Biden’s failed bipartisan border security bill.
In an interview with Newsweek, Rep. Tony Gonzales, who represents Texas’s 23rd Congressional District, emphasized that the U.S. does not have the “resources” to carry out Trump’s plan.
Trump has said, “We will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”
“You’re not going to round up 10 million people and deport them. It’s simple—you do not have the infrastructure to do that,” Gonzales said.
“I support President Trump or any president making sure laws are enforced. At times, you’ve seen President Biden do some of this, but it has to be at scale.
He continued, “If someone breaks the law, we must immediately give them due process and remove them when they don’t meet the standards of asylum.”
Gonzales said he met with ICE Acting Director Patrick Lechleitner, who he said told him the government lacks the “manpower, budget, and planes” to carry out mass deportations.
Lechleitner pointed out the challenge of finding countries willing to accept deportees on such a large scale.
Gonzales said Lechleitner told him there are 10,000 serious criminals, including convicted rapists and murderers, in the U.S. illegally.
“I think we should start by deporting the over 10,000 bad actors that we have, and I think that in itself is going to be a handful,” Gonzales told Newsweek.
Gonzales, who has served Texas’s 23rd Congressional District since 2021, represents the largest stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in Congress. His district, spanning over 800 miles of border territory, places him on the frontlines of the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the border.
Gonzales said completely shutting down the border would cripple the economy and impact industries all over the country.
“There’s not one industry that is not tied to the U.S.-Mexico border,” he said.
“We shut down the border for bad actors, those that are coming here illegally, those that do not qualify for asylum and are breaking our laws.
“And we have a border that is open to those that are vetted; we know who they are. We know why they’re coming here, and they’re helping grow our economy.
Gonzales has consistently urged the GOP to adopt a more nuanced stance on its single most politically explosive issue is considered a moderate within the political spectrum of the GOP.
He has stressed that it is up to Republicans and Democrats to “highlight the good, the bad, the ugly” of the border.
On the Texas-Mexico border, razor wire stands out as a stark symbol of the intense security measures employed to curb illegal migration. It is designed to catch and tear at anything that comes into contact with it
However, Gonzalez told Newsweek,”If somebody made a trek of 2,000 miles, razor wire isn’t going to turn them around.”
He claime that the razor wire is “redirecting the flow” of unlawful migrants away from Texas and to New Mexico.
In July, there were 9,091 migrant encounters in New Mexico, but in Texas there were 52,093 encounters, according to CBP data.
“Razor wire alone doesn’t do it,” Gonzalez said. “But when you see DPS agents, three different layers of barriers, it makes it more difficult, not for the migrants, but for smugglers, so what ends up happening is they go to other places.
“Why would you cut through three layers of wire when you can go two miles down the road and there is no wire?” he said.
Abbott deployed the Texas military to install miles of concertina wire along the New Mexico-Texas border in October 2023.
However, New Mexico Rep. Gabe Vasquez told ABC News that the barrier is “unconstitutional.”
Since the razor wire was enforced in 2023 to curb illegal migration, state and federal governments have been involved in an ongoing dispute over the legality of the issue.
The fencing was authorized and implemented by Gov. Abbot, a key ally of Donald Trump. However, the Biden administration requested that Border Patrol be authorized to continue cutting the wire, arguing that it harms migrants.
Gonzales presented proposed policy solutions to curb migration as a contrast to the Biden-Harris administration’s approach.
He wishes to deport illegal migrants who have committed serious offenses and wants to see a crackdown on Venezuelan gangs, whom he described as “pure evil.”
It comes after footage emerged online of the gang storming an apartment complex in Colorado.
The men are reportedly the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua (TdA), who were reportedly operating in the area.
“These Venezuelan gangs are pure evil, and they will rot any society, any community that they associate themselves with,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales argued that despite migrant crossings falling, “the type of people coming over has changed.”
“You don’t want these people in your country. You don’t want them in your neighborhoods. You don’t want them in your state. These are just bad people.”
“Venezuelan gangs should be able to unite Democrats and Republicans alike,” he said.
Gonzalez strongly believes Republicans and Democrats should join forces to come to a bipartisan agreement on immigration and border security.
“I will work with anyone that wants to truly solve this problem,” he said.
Gonzalez accused Democrats of being unwilling to address the issues at the U.S.-Mexico border.
However, Democrats said Trump “tanked” the bipartisan border bill.
Harris Campaign Spokesperson Kevin Munoz told Newsweek: “There’s only one candidate in this race who will fight for bipartisan solutions to strengthen border security, and that’s Vice President Harris.”
“What I’ve learned is most people do not want to solve the problem. They don’t want to know the truth. They don’t want to know what it takes to get it done, and I’ll work with any president, Gonzalez said.
“I hope they take it more seriously because more American lives have been impacted.”
Trump is proposing a mass deportation policy that could cripple the economy and is impractical, according to ICE officials and GOP lawmakers.
However. Rep. Chip Roy supports Trump’s policy and said in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “We must have mass deportations.”
Democrats have said Trump’s flagship policy to secure the border involves “ripping mothers from their children.”
Harris reiterated her support for the bipartisan border security bill during her recent interview with CNN.
“We have laws that have to be followed and enforced, that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally, and there should be consequence.”
A key component of the bill would allow the president to deport migrants who enter the U.S. between official border crossing points and to deny them the ability to apply for asylum.
Those powers would be triggered when the daily average number of migrant crossings hits 4,000 per day for seven consecutive days.
Both parties appear to agree that tougher measures are required to curb migration figures, and a Gallup poll shows 55% of Republicans and Democrats want to see immigration levels decrease.
One thing both sides agree on is that more funding is needed to hire more border patrol agents to alleviate pressures on the force, as Gonzales said.
Biden’s failed bipartisan border security bill was lauded by Republicans like Gonzales, who has stressed the importance of “working together” to come up with a plan.
The bill would have added 1,500 more CBP officers and 4,300 asylum officers to deal with the immigration backlog.
Democrats and Republicans must come together to unite on a bipartisan border security solution that gives CBP and ICE the resources to humanely process migrants entering the country legally.
More beds are needed to deal with the flow of asylum seekers.
Bipartisan solutions are required to formulate a plan that is effective and humane and to ensure both sides of the aisle have their voices heard.