GOP Rep. Gonzales on 16 Terror Watch List Members at Border Last Month: We Need to Use Purse Power to ‘Force’ Biden to Enforce the Law

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America Reports,” Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) reacted to news that 16 people on the terror watch list were caught at the border in April by stating that Congress has to use every power it can to force the Biden administration to enforce the law and stating, “let’s use the power of the purse to force them down a route where they have to secure this border.”

Co-host John Roberts said, [relevant remarks begin around 1:15] “[W]hat we have seen is a rise in the number of people who’ve been coming across the border who are on the terror watch list…16 in the month of April, which is more than in all of fiscal years ’17 to ’20 combined. 88 in total in 2023, according to Customs and Border Protection. So, there is an ongoing threat on our southern border here of people who are not supposed to be coming into this country coming in.”

Gonzales responded, “That should infuriate all of us…what about the gotaways, how many folks on the terrorist watch list are in the gotaways? When a terrorist action strikes, they don’t care if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, they’re just trying to kill Americans. These are the things where things are deteriorating along our border. … We’ve got to continue to push the administration to essentially enforce the laws that are already on the books. They’re starting to go down that route, but this only changes…[if] we keep pushing and holding them accountable using every mechanism we have in Congress. We [have] the power of the purse, let’s use the power of the purse to force them down a route where they have to secure this border.”

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