There has been a humanitarian crisis at the Texas-Mexico border for several decades, but Congress has continued to fail to deliver a solid, long-term solution to the issue of immigration, Joel Villarreal, the mayor of Rio Grande City, Texas, told Newsmax Friday.
"We've had a humanitarian crisis under every president for the last several decades," Villarreal told Newsmax's "National Report." "In fact, in the last five presidential administrations, the American people initially delivered a unified government to each of those administrations, and yet we still failed to deliver a consequential long-term solution for our broken immigration system."
The border city mayor said that he has "no doubt" that Border Patrol agents and the Texas Department of Public Safety will manage the humanitarian crisis that is still happening, "like they have many times before," but the current issues must be addressed.
"It is going to be chaotic for the next few months," said Villarreal. "Title 8 can be highly effective, provided that the mechanism for expedited removal remains in place and is applied with conviction."
But still, a failure to expedite the removal of illegal immigrants will lead to a longer period of chaos, said the mayor, adding that Congress consists of "platitudinous politicians" who continue to refuse to bridge the divide about immigration, he said.
Villarreal also said that a system for legal immigration is also vital for the United States.
"We are already a country of immigrants," he said. "President Ronald Reagan said it best [that] one of the most important sources for America's greatness, where we lead the world [is because] we draw people, our strength from every country and every corner of the world … however, our legal immigration system is broken."
Meanwhile, when asked if immigrants receive a "welcome package" upon entering his city, Villarreal said he's heard of that, but has not seen it.
"Typically what happens here in our community, individuals are processed but not necessarily here," he said. "It's transient; they are moved over to either the city of McAllen or the city of Laredo."
He added that Rio Grande City "has not seen the large numbers yet, but we are going to have it. It's going to be chaos."
But Villarreal pointed out that the situation has happened many times before and said "this is something we need to address."
"We have to definitely address this humanitarian crisis, but there will be many more if we don't address the core issue, which again Congress has failed to deliver," he said. "Congress fails to deliver and the onus is placed on the president, and certainly that is a fickle proposition. It is a house of cards because border policies flow directly with the winds of change of White House administrations. There's lack of stability, consistency across the board in dealing with this issue."
Further, Villarreal said that legal immigration could prove the solution to labor shortages.
"We have the solution to our labor shortages and potential labor crisis right here, knocking at our front door," he said. "Regrettably, our extreme political ideologies cloud our judgment and refuse to see the answers right here in front of us."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!