Future legislation uncertain as illegal immigration no longer just a Texas issue, Congressman Williams says
NORTH TEXAS - It's been three weeks now since a bi-partisan Senate bill on immigration reform died.
While many believed the legislation would make it to the president's desk, House Republicans insisted it wouldn't, and it didn't.
We recently sat down with North Texas area Congressman Roger Williams to talk about the ongoing border crisis and why the bi-partisan Senate immigration bill was shot down in the House earlier this month.
"There was a lot of hope, but the problem was it had some things to do with the border that a lot of us myself included didn't care for," Williams said. "Setting numbers of what was acceptable and what was not acceptable, and money going to Ukraine as opposed to going to the border."
He added what really broke the deal for him personally and forced him to vote against it was a provision that would allow up to 5,000 illegal border crossings on any given day before the President would have that authority to shut down the border.
"Five thousand a day were going to be allowed it was okay," said Williams. "Five thousand. One was not okay. Well, the problem is, one is not okay."
Williams also authored a pair of bills that, if they were to become law, would force the federal government to reimburse Texas for expenses tied to border security.
That also includes the $10 billion already spent on Governor Abbott's Operation Lone Star.
"Just think if we get that money back," Williams said, "we can go spend it again to secure the border."
While the future of that legislation known as The Stop Act is not clear at this point, he did say what everyone is sure of is that the crisis at the border is no longer just a problem for Texas.
"Everybody is a border state as we say now, and I think everybody does realize it."