U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez held a press conference this morning to address recent actions by the Trump Administration, including reports of the administration’s plan to deploy active-duty troops to assist with immigration enforcement.
According to a report from The Washington Post, the Trump Administration is working on a plan to create a temporary military installation along New Mexico’s southern border. Congressman Vasquez spoke out against the idea of active-duty troops operating at the border, and said the resources could be better spent on technology and other needs of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“DHS and CBP are fully capable of carrying out this mission,” Vasquez said. “Militarizing the border would have a very negligible impact on the overall migration trends in the rural parts of our district that would amount to a waste of our taxpayer dollars.”
Vasquez also said he’s working to get more information regarding 48 unnamed New Mexicans who, according to a complaint from the ACLU of New Mexico, are unaccounted for after being arrested by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“The administration is trying to conduct these operations in secret,” Vasquez said. “We should have the names, we should understand what their crimes are, and we should know and have full transparency of how this administration is handling those raids. Unfortunately, they have not been transparent with us, but we are actively looking for those names of those folks.”
Vasquez said he will continue pushing for transparency from the Trump Administration, and for resources that align with the needs of border communities.
