HOUSTON — Houston Congressman Al Green says he sees both a crisis and a challenge in the recent border surge along the Texas-Mexico border.
The challenge, the Democrat said, is trying to do what they can to help the families, particularly the thousands of migrant children.
“The crisis is something that emanates from years of ignoring the needs in these countries that are south of the border,” he said on Inside Texas Politics. “This President (Biden) has said that he needs $4 billion to get to the root cause of these problems. I think he probably needs more than $4 billion to be quite candid.”
The congressman said he’s been to Central America and has seen the deep-rooted problems first-hand.
Immigration experts say the current border surge is primarily composed of migrants from Central America, as opposed to Mexico.
A number of Texas leaders joined Y'all-itics to talk about the current situation and what needs to be done to fix it. To listen, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | Amazon Music
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Representative Green hopes there will be compromise and bipartisanship so Congress can finally pass comprehensive immigration reform, enacting top-to-bottom change in the system.
“If only one side compromises, it’s not true compromise, it’s capitulation. I don’t think either side should have to capitulate. I think we have to move toward each other as opposed to creating a chasm between us.”
And the Democrat says it’s necessary to come together because he stresses that building walls will not solve the problems of our neighbors to the south.
“The people are not going to stop coming. The walls won’t stop them. It will help us to do this.”