CNN Newsroom: Interview With Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX)

Interview

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Well, Jim, thanks so much for talking about this. I'm grateful for CNN's examination of this.

We are seeing a historic refugee crisis across the western hemisphere, and communities like mine are on the frontlines when it comes to receiving migrants and offering shelter space, in trying to keep people moving.

In many respects, we are supporting the Federal government and I think what we are all anticipating is an unprecedented number. I think the numbers that were provided in the story just now, the number of migrants waiting in our Mexican sister cities, I think that's actually very, very low.

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I think the numbers are probably 10 times that size, based on what I am hearing. And there are more groups of people who are coming in waves. And we first saw this Jim, in 2014. We've seen a steady increase year after year after year after year, and Congress has continued to treat immigration as a border only issue. Congress has not legislated on this issue.

House Democrats, we passed a number of bills when we were in charge, and we had the majority. It's going to take both parties working on this together to reform outdated processes, but also to reform outdated laws.

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I think that's unfair. You know, I think that while there are definitely some similarities, for example, the continued use of Title 42, the Biden administration has actually done what the Trump administration would never have done, which is open up legal pathways and help communities like ours with FEMA funding.

The administration can only do so much, the executive branch is, I think, doing as much as it possibly can in the absence of true congressional action.

Last year, Jim, the Biden administration asked for historic sums of money for more personnel and for more support for communities like mine. Republicans in the Senate negotiated those numbers down. And in the House, many of our Republican colleagues voted against that funding.

So the Biden administration is using the tools that we've given them and it is on Congress to open up more legal pathways. Part of why we're seeing so many people use asylum, is that it is the only pathway that Congress has given too many of these folks. It is our job --

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That's right.

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Right, right. Well, it tells me a number of things. I mean, first and foremost, people are desperate to have hope and to be in a country where they can work, and where they think they can have a future and a life, but it also should tell us about the extreme lawlessness in those areas because there are horrific stories of sexual assault, kidnapping, murder, you name it. I have heard it, really harrowing stories that I would never repeat, because they're so awful. And so the lawlessness is terrible.

But also one of the things we need to realize is the human traffickers and the cartels, combined with the use of social media really are moving more and more of these individuals. So many of the human traffickers use apps and social media sites in order to lure folks, make promises, take their money and get them through these very difficult areas on this journey, and all of that together has created this unprecedented wave of humanity.

And they are leaving countries, frankly, those countries are losing their youngest, most talented, hardworking people. They share the blame and the responsibility as well.

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Yes. We have worked very hard to ensure that we are getting the financial resources to the community, but my community alone cannot do it. Border communities alone cannot do it. This is why I have brought members of Congress to El Paso to inspire work that needs to be done, to open up legal pathways and alleviate the burden that communities like mine face.

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Thank you, Jim.

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