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The Democratic candidate for the US House in Texas’ 15th congressional district claimed Monday that there was “no chaos” on the southern border and accused Republicans of hyping up the crisis for political gain.
During a virtual discussion with DemCastUSA, a liberal grassroots media group, Democratic businesswoman Michelle Vallejo argued that Republicans were making South Texas residents their “political pawns” while campaigning for border security and that they were “creating” photo shoots to falsely make it look like there was a crisis at the border.
“When you’re in a district or a community where you feel completely ignored by all parties, you’re going to take advantage of any opportunity. [inaudible]but we have seen that these efforts have been quite divisive, because they will point to this scenario that the border wall, or like the border region, is just chaos, which is not the truth,” Vallejo said.
“We have very quiet days. We come to the office, we do our work, we do what we have to do, but now it is even more obvious that we have been pawns of the politicians,” he said.
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“And we’ve seen it even with our own governor here in the state of Texas in the way they’re campaigning. They’re setting up these photo ops and they’re setting up press conferences where we don’t even have a voice. . But they come to the south Texas and they say they’re speaking from that region. And for us who live here on the ground, we see that right,” he added.
Vallejo’s claims stand in stark contrast to continued reports of massive numbers of migrants crossing the border each month from Mexico, the sharp increase in dangerous drugs seized during attempted smuggling into the US, and the attention of terror suspects for part of the Border Patrol.
Fox News Digital reached out to Vallejo’s campaign and asked if his comments reflected his views on the border, as well as his thoughts on the high number of migrants crossing into the US every day. Campaign manager Kirby Chandler responded with a statement about Vallejo’s desire to overhaul the US immigration system and doubled down on her criticism of Republicans.
“Michelle believes we need to invest in our border to keep our communities safe while we overhaul a broken immigration system. But instead of working to keep us safe and fix the process, Republicans would rather use the border as political talking point to divide Americans. and scapegoating immigrants. Michelle will continue to work to protect Dreamers and create an immigration system that is fair and humane,” Chandler said.
FORMER ICE MANAGER SAYS BORDER IS ‘BIGEST CRISIS’ HE’S SEEN IN HIS CAREER: ‘IT’S COSTING LIVES’
Michelle Vallejo, a progressive Democratic candidate for the 15th District who was recently endorsed by Elizabeth Warren, poses for a photo at a polling place in McAllen, Texas on March 1, 2022.
(REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas)
Vallejo’s opponent, Republican businesswoman Monica De La Cruz, blasted her over the border claims, accusing her rival in a statement to Fox News Digital of trying to withhold support from liberal campaign donors and party leaders. Democratic Party.
“While Michelle Vallejo’s comments denying the existence of the border crisis are reprehensible, they are not surprising,” De La Cruz said. “Vallejo knows he has to pretend the Biden border crisis doesn’t exist to stay in the good graces of his liberal donors and his party’s radical leadership.”
Republican candidate Monica De La Cruz, the 2022 Republican candidate for Texas’ 15th Congressional District, appears in a digital ad released by the National Republican Congressional Committee.
(National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC))
“At a time when DHS reported nearly 200,000 arrests of illegal immigrants last month, Vallejo has confirmed that he will throw South Texas under the bus to score political points,” he added.
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According to election analysts, the race for Texas’ 15th congressional district is favorable to Republicans. The race will likely be an important indicator of whether polls showing a massive shift in support among Hispanic voters from Democrats to Republicans are true.
Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_cg.
