Moderate Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas threatened to vote against any debt ceiling increase if the House brings up a border security bill favored by the GOP’s immigration hawks.
“Bring unchristian anti-immigrant bills to the floor and I am a NO on the debt ceiling,” Gonzales declared on Twitter Wednesday, days after reports indicated that Republican leadership is pushing to delay markup of immigration and border security bills as the party deals with infighting between members.
It’s a threat that further complicates House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s efforts to negotiate a debt limit increase with President Biden while keeping members of his own conference united.
Last week, Fox News confirmed that leadership asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to delay a planned consideration of as many as eight border and immigration bills next week before the April recess. At the earliest, it will be more than four months since Republicans took control of the House of Representatives that lawmakers will consider any legislation to tackle the immigration crisis at the southern border.
GOP LEADERSHIP PUSHES BACK IMMIGRATION, BORDER BILL MARKUP AMID INFIGHTING
The slow action has frustrated immigration hawks, who have said the GOP is neglecting to keep promises made in the party’s “Commitment to America.” Those groups are lined up behind border security legislation introduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the “Border Safety and Security Act.
Roy’s bill would allow the Department of Homeland Security to block the entry of illegal migrants into the U.S. until there is “operational control” of the border.
However, the bill has faced opposition from some GOP lawmakers, most vocally Gonzales, who has called it anti-American and anti-immigrant before. Reached for comment, Roy told Fox News Digital, “We’re focused on effective policy change that ends the border crisis — not personal grievances.”
Earlier this month, the Texas Republican Party censured Gonzales over his immigration positions, as well as votes on issues including same-sex marriage and gun restrictions, claiming his record violated the priorities and principles of the party.
REP. ROY INTRODUCES BILL TO BLOCK ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AS HOUSE GOP FIRES UP BORDER PUSH
The resolution approved by the State Republican Executive Committee accused Gonzales of engaging in a “pattern of action demonstrably opposed” to the state party’s principles and legislative priorities.
Gonzales has also drawn a primary challenge from Victor Avila, a former special agent in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, who announced on March 7 that he will run to represent the Lone Star State’s 23rd Congressional District. His opponent will seek to make border security and immigration top themes of his campaign against Gonzales.
“Being from the border, born and raised in El Paso, Texas, and working most of my law enforcement career on the border, even after my retirement, I continue to be an advocate for border security,” Avila, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds in a cartel ambush that left his partner dead in 2011, told Fox News Digital.
“I want to be able to be in a position to make a difference. And unfortunately, the current holder of that position is not doing the job, as a matter of fact, is damaging our country, Texans and the rest of the country, by saying one thing down at the border, but doing completely the opposite in Washington, DC. And that needs to change.”
Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Paul Best contributed to this report.