The second-term Democrat from El Paso, TX, weighs in on GOP-led efforts to restrict voting rights, the ongoing border crisis, and efforts to address climate change.
Texas has become among a handful of states at the center of the fight for voting rights, amid a wave of GOP-backed bills moving through state legislatures across the country and becoming law.
While Texas Democrats stymied legislation in their state that would’ve created new hurdles in the voting process, at least 17 states have enacted new laws that tighten the rules around casting ballots — largely in reaction to former President Trump’s claims of widespread election fraud. These new restrictions will now be harder to challenge, thanks to a new Supreme Court decision to uphold two Arizona election laws.
As the Texas state legislature prepares to meet next week for a special session to potentially discuss voting restrictions again, we spoke with Texas Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar, who weighed on these efforts in her home state. “If we don’t defend our Republic then our democracy as we know it will be over,” she said, “and Texas is ground zero for much of what’s happening.” Escobar also weighed in on the influx of migrants at the border, and efforts to address climate change amid a deadly heat wave in the Pacific Northwest.
KCM: Texas has faced scrutiny for a restrictive new election bill that’s dead at the moment, after Texas Dems staged a walkout over it. That, in turn, led to another controversy: Gov. Greg Abbott defunding the legislature. Can you talk about this battle over voting rights?
Rep. Veronica Escobar: We are in a very dangerous time for our democracy and we are seeing an attack on our Republic in real time. Many of us who were here on January 6th were under siege as a result of what we’ve all called the “big lie,” which was that the election was a fraud. And the danger didn’t end on January 7th, when we certified the election. The danger actually has continued to this day, because that big lie has fueled efforts in states like mine to be able to easily overturn an election to revoke the voting rights of minorities. If we don’t preserve our democracy, if we don’t preserve everyone’s right to the ballot box, and if we don’t defend our Republic, then our democracy as we know it will be over — and Texas is ground zero for much of what’s happening. Unfortunately, there are other states where Republican-led elected officials are doing everything they can to prevent people from having access to their constitutional rights to the ballot box. So there is an urgency here in Congress to protect our citizens’ rights to the ballot box and to uphold our democracy.
KCM: The House has voted to create a select committee to investigate the events of January 6th. What do you hope to see come out of that investigation?
Escobar: My hope is that this committee will work in good faith to get to the bottom of what happened on January 6th, so that we can further protect our democracy and ensure that an attack on our Capitol and on our country never happens again.
This is a real test for the Minority leader, Kevin McCarthy. He has an opportunity to work in good faith and uphold his oath of office; his oath to the Constitution. And he can appoint serious individuals who understand the gravity of January 6th, everything that led up to it, and everything that has transpired since then. But I’m deeply concerned that he will not appoint serious people and that he’ll do everything possible to make a mockery of our country and our efforts to save it—all in a desperate effort to grab power. So I am praying that he does the right thing and appoints serious, thoughtful legislators. Because there’s a lot of work ahead and there’s too much at stake.
KCM: In light of former President Trump and VP Kamala Harris’ recent visits, what are some factors you attribute to the surge of migrants at the border right now?
Escobar: Here’s what I think is so important for Americans to understand — and it’s been really frustrating for many of us from the border that this is seen by many Americans as sort of a new phenomenon — we’ve been seeing the ebb and flow of migrants for decades.
We’ve seen a high concentration of Central American families fleeing their homeland in greater numbers. There’s been much made about the fact that the numbers are at historic highs. But what’s in place today is basically a program called Title 42, where migrants present themselves to border patrol and border patrol rapidly expels them. Then they go to another part of the border and try again and again. So the numbers that are being reported widely by the media and by Republicans are about 40% higher because they’re counting the same person more than once.
Congress needs to act. We need to create more equal pathways because over the decades, the legal pathways have shrunk in response to, I think, xenophobia and anti-immigrant fervor.
When people don’t have access to legal avenues, they will then find other ways, because they are so desperate. So we need to increase our refugee programs. We need to work with our neighbors. We need to do what the vice president is doing, which is looking to address root causes. We’ve got to tackle this or we are going to keep seeing this year in and year out — and finger-pointing anti-immigrant rhetoric, and walls don’t solve it. It will take a very holistic strategic approach to better manage what is happening, a recognition that it’s been going on for a long time. And it will continue to go on for a long time until we address it holistically.
KCM: What were some of the solutions discussed during Harris’ visit last week, and what was your takeaway from her visit?
Escobar: It was a really wonderful visit and a great opportunity for El Paso. You know, El Paso has been at the center of migration for a long time, but unfortunately during the Trump administration, we were at the center of some of the most inhumane, anti-immigrant government policies that we’ve ever seen in our generation. We were the testing ground for family separation. We were the place where vulnerable migrants were expelled under a policy known as MPP or “Remain in Mexico.”
We have also seen a significant number of unaccompanied children seeking refuge. So we wanted to make sure that the vice-president heard from law enforcement and toured a central processing center, and she did that. She heard from children, which was so important, and I’m sure it had a profound impact on her.
And lastly, we wanted to make sure that she heard from the advocates on the ground, who could tell her very explicitly about the conditions that their clients were fleeing, so she could have a more significant understanding of the root causes of why people are leaving. That’s what President Biden asked her to do — work with our neighboring countries to look at, and hopefully address the root causes of migration. So she heard extensively about root causes from both the migrant children, as well as their lawyers and their advocates.
KCM: Border communities in Texas have been, like you said, facing this for a long time. What are some initiatives being taken in El Paso and other border communities?
Escobar: I have frequently held up El Paso as the example of how we can do this strategically, but also humanely. One of the things that I think is really important for Americans to understand is that we can be a secure nation and not surrender our humanity and the humanity of the vulnerable people who are seeking refuge and assistance. In El Paso, we have a long history of treating migrants with dignity and working to try to keep families together. But we need the federal government’s help. I actually am working on legislation that I’m hoping to introduce soon that reimagines the border and how we process people, so we’re not treating vulnerable migrants like criminals.
When we treat everybody who arrives at our nation’s front door as though they are a criminal, we’re going to extend countless resources basically detaining them. So we’ve got to rethink this — other countries have done it effectively and humanely. I think there’s a lot we can learn from other countries and from border communities like mine, that treat people with dignity but still uphold the security of our community.
KCM: The Texas power grid came under national attention earlier this year during the February freeze. But now with the heat wave, other parts of the country are facing power issues — this isn’t an issue that’s unique to Texas. Can you talk about your work on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis?
Escobar: Neither the changes in our climate nor the challenges to our infrastructure are unique to Texas. But what is unique to Texas is that instead of investments in our electrical grid ensuring that people have access to the power they need in order to literally stay alive, we have a governor diverting resources and funds away from critical infrastructure that keeps his constituents alive, and sending it to political pet projects, like building a wall.
One of the most incredibly significant derelictions of duty that we are seeing is from Texas’ governor and from Republicans in the legislature who essentially are choosing not to fix the problem. So those of us from the select committee have a very important role: to not just create a roadmap for legislation, but also to make sure that we get legislation and investments that are key to addressing the climate catastrophe as quickly as possible.
It’s a bipartisan committee, and we don’t always agree with one another, but we do know that we have to act. So in addition to the work that we’re doing on the select committee, my priority is looking for every avenue possible to address the climate emergency.
We can’t just keep moving forward as if we don’t have a catastrophe on our hands. We’re seeing what’s happening in the Pacific Northwest: People are dying, their infrastructure is literally melting under the heat. We know that California will be ablaze for many of the months ahead. In my own community, there will be significant drought at times, and intense flooding at times because of the wild swings in our climate as a result of this man-made catastrophe. So we have to look to every avenue possible to save as much of our planet as possible.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
