Texas Democrat calls for ‘far more direct engagement’ from State Department amid migrant surge

by Olafimihan Oshin - 12/18/22 1:44 PM ET

Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) at a House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis hearing entitled 'State Perspectives on Cutting Methane Pollution' on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. — Peter Afriyie
Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) at a House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis hearing entitled ‘State Perspectives on Cutting Methane Pollution’ on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

Democrat Rep. Veronica Escobar (Texas) on Sunday urged the State Department to have a “far more direct engagement” in response to the ongoing migrant surge at the U.S. border with Mexico.

During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Escobar told host Shannon Bream that she believes it is important to have “more robust support” from the State Department.

“The federal government under Congress’s direction has addressed immigration as a border only issue,” Escobar told Bream. “We really have to kind of zoom out and recognize this is a Western hemispheric refugee crisis of historic proportions, impacting all of our countries, to the south of us.”

“We really need far more direct engagement from the State Department, and I’ve called on the State Department to do that,” Escobar added.

Escobar also stressed the importance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in El Paso, Texas, which she represents and is seeing a surge in migration.

“FEMA has been extraordinary in our community. They have advanced funding to local governments. They have been a phone call, a text away all these months. They just approved an additional large up front funding to the city of El Paso.”

Bream, meanwhile, noted to Escobar that an official told her between 60 and 70 percent of border agents stationed in El Paso are currently committed to processing migrants into the country.

“That is what’s overwhelming the system and we’ve got to make sure that that we continue to press on Congress to reform what are outdated processes outdated laws to adequately fund the State Department because, while yes, I want the White House to do more, I also want Congress to act,” Escobar replied. “And I don’t want us to do more of the same, Shannon, which is focus only on deterrence, focus on immigration as a border issue. We’ve done that for decades, and this is what it’s gotten us today.”

Escobar’s remarks come as Title 42, a controversial Trump-era policy that blocked migrants from seeking asylum is expected to end later this week after a federal judge’s ruling last month.