GOP congressman: Before voting for Mayorkas impeachment, ‘I want to see the facts’

Joining me now is that legislator who was at the White House today, he's Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez, from Texas Congressman, uh, good to see you, thanks for coming, yeah, thanks for having me, Chuck, so look, uh , I'm sure it's someone. I'll pass you. what our polls showed and what was fascinating, we presented several issues that this new Congress could address that same potential, whether it be climate change, abortion, uh, restrictions, things like that, a couple of different ways to address immigration and our number one pick across the board. It was a compromise immigration bill that had border security priorities, a path to citizenship with background checks and that's obviously very important, the American public seems to be ahead of Congress, it's fair to say, you know, The American public may be onto something and you know that today is a good start.

I think it's important to have a dialogue, it's important to have serious conversations and see where it goes. In a divided government there is no room to blame other people as if we have to roll up our sleeves. This is what you know, campaigning is where you divide, governing is where Nevada, where you unite, you know, I consider myself a conservative ruler, there are a lot of us here on the hill and we can't just wait for leadership from all sides resolve things. it has to be from a ground up approach and I think there is an opportunity for grassroots members to make the issue that derailed immigration in 2013 was essentially order on the path to citizenship, border security money, um, There are many conservatives who are. like look, I'm willing to discuss beyond the citizenry after knowing that the border is secure when you discuss how best to say uh describe the sticking points with your meetings at the White House, you know, uh, you know Chuck, I represent to 42 percent of the Southern border of more than 800 miles places like Uvalde Del Rio Eagle Pass El Paso my district has been at the epicenter.

I always start with border security, you know, we can't talk about immigration reform unless we start with border security that protects our country from fentanyl and terrorists is extremely important now, when you talk about immigration, it's important not to have this anti-immigrant rhetoric , it's important to say: hey, how do we attract people who

want

to come to work and live the American dream, maybe not the path to citizenship or amnesty or some of these issues that drag us quickly nowhere, I think Part of this is starting with sensible things and building from there, so let me ask you about ending the coveted emergency that would then end with title 42.

You know, there are a couple of them. I know there was a proposal to end Title 42, but establish a penalty if someone came to the border and was turned back, they couldn't go back to the border and try to enter for six months or a year or something like that. Do you

want

the world of post title 42 to look like it's going to happen? We know what you want that restriction to look like and how you want it to be implemented. That's a great question. Chuck and you know that in a bipartisan way there have been Both Democrats and Republicans have said, "Hey, look, Title 42 is going away, we're okay with that.

What are we going to do to transition? Part of that It's a gateway. Basically, right now the immigration system is completely broken. How do you simplify it, how do you make it easier for people to come? That guarantees asylum that wants work visas. The work visa solves a lot of this. You have to include corporations as well. These employers have to accept them. There are some things that I think are sensible, we start there, we develop the conversation, but it has to start with border security. border security today, Congressman Andy Biggs is filing articles of

impeachment

against Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas, where do you stand on that and do you think it's an effective way to try to improve border security?

Yes, Chuck, the Secretary of the Americas is a very popular guy in the Republican Party, as you can imagine, there is no death, there is no doubt that we are going to have

impeachment

hearings. I want to see all the

facts

, you know, let's not draw conclusions until we have all the

facts

and wherever the facts take us, the facts take us, but you know, rhetoric, there's one thing. I am in a district that needs solutions. I'm in a district that needs help today, not 10 years from now, so I think it's important that we have real solutions.

The problem I don't understand is like it's on an appointee of President Biden, so if you're B, you have a problem. with it, take it to the top. I know and you know the other side it's only one time in the history of our nation that a secretary has been indicted so it's going to take a lot of time, effort, energy and, to me, I think that requires This moves away. of some of the other things that are happening, but there is no doubt that impeachment hearings will take place, but we have to see where that takes us.

You're not a you, it doesn't seem like you're a no. Although I want to say that we haven't even started the hearings yet, if I come out with a yes or no, I think it's, I'm not a lawyer, but it seems like it's bad optics to come to a conclusion. Before the trial even begins, that makes it political, this can't be political, it has to be about politics, how do the American people say that the introduction of these articles of impeachment is not politics? Well, I think what we've seen is This accusation has been this word being thrown around like candy.

I mean, this used to be an emergency glass break case and now everyone is going to use that hammer and the first tool out of the toolbox. I just think we have to pump. stop and go, let's have these hearings, let's see where it takes us, but at the same time, the people, the American public, demand tangible results. Fortunately, he does not have the scar of what so many other people have been in Congress. A decade is, uh, and you're right about these tools, talking about a tool that's being used more frequently, stripping members of committee assignments.

What's your opinion on this with Elon Omar? You know it was difficult because I didn't appreciate the precedence. That's what the Democrats said when they eliminated some Republican committees, the last committee, our last Congress. I really don't like the fact that we're going down this path, this tit-for-tat, at the end of the day, you know? I think that's probably the right thing to do, uh per se, uh, but I want us to get to real problems, you know, we can't get stuck in this, hey, you called me that, you did this, the demand of the American public, real solutions is education about school safety.

Health care, border immigration, these are real issues we need to address, why do you think it's the right thing to do to kick her off that committee? Is it that committee specifically? I mean, look at the end of the day, she said that she had done a lot of things that she said, a lot of things that I understand, you know, maybe this is a way to prevent other members from going down that path, you know, look, it's ugly in every way. I'm not excited about this is the energy we have. We're taking, but at the same time I want to say that my focus right now is on border immigration, these types of things and you have to make sure you know there's a lot of political capital.

You can use wise words, like I said. The American public is ready for a big deal on immigration, let's see if you guys can deliver what you want. Congressman Tony Gonzalez, Republican from South Texas, thank you for coming to share his perspective with us, thank you Chuck, thank you for watching our YouTube channel, follow along today. Top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app