Biden admin border cash not always getting to right place, Texas Democrat claims

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A South Texas Democrat expressed frustration Wednesday, claiming not all Biden administration allocations to communities along the U.S.-Mexico border get to where the cash is intended to go.

"Unfortunately, I don’t think they’ve had the results that were expected," U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, who represents the 15th Congressional District in Texas, said during an online news briefing, according to Border Report.

"We need to assure that when we make these investments that they’re monitored to assure that they have the results – and we don’t just throw money out there and hope it resolves itself," the Corpus Christi-area lawmaker added. "Hundreds of millions of dollars have been given to the NGOs (non-governmental organizations). I think we should have a closer monitor of these resources and ensure they get to the places that they need to."

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Gonzalez was issuing a follow-up report after meeting online Monday with Vice President Kamala Harris – the Biden administration’s manager of the border crisis – as well as members of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus, according to Border Report. 

"I think we should have a closer monitor of these resources and ensure they get to the places that they need to."

— U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, is seen in Washington, Feb. 27, 2018. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Of the lawmakers who participated, Gonzalez was the only one who represented a district that adjoins the border, the report said.

In a Twitter message on Monday, Harris had claimed she met with the lawmakers "to get their input on our diplomatic efforts in the Northern Triangle and to discuss how we can work together to address the root causes of migration from the region."

In a series of his own Twitter messages Monday, Gonzalez had called for bipartisan cooperation to resolve border- and migrant-related issues, claiming the Border Patrol and the nation’s immigration system have been "overwhelmed" by the migrant crisis.

"It must be addressed in a bipartisan way or we’re going to see migration happen long after this admin," Gonzalez wrote.

In a March appearance on CNN, Gonzalez claimed the Biden-Harris border policies were leading more migrants to the U.S. border, potentially producing a "catastrophic" situation there.

"I can assure you it won't be long before we have tens of thousands of people showing up to our border," he said at the time, "and it'll be catastrophic for our party, for our country, for my region, for my district, in the middle of a pandemic, in an area where we've lost over 3,000 people in my small congressional district."

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar is another Texas Democrat who has been critical of the Biden administration.

Earlier this month, Cuellar told Border Report that federal officials were shuttling migrants from one facility to another, rather than seeking more effective solutions to the crisis.

Gonzalez’s concerns this week about suspected misdirected funding mirrored previous statements that a Republican – U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York – had made last week.

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Malliotakis spoke to the New York Post after reports emerged last week that Biden-appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra had recently arrived hat in hand on Capitol Hill, requesting $905 million from Congress to replenish a pandemic-depleted National Strategic Stockpile of medical equipment.

Becerra’s request followed news that the Biden administration had pulled $850 million from coronavirus relief funding and redirected it toward caring for 45,000 migrant children at the border, Politico reported.

"The president single-handedly created this crisis and is now misplacing billions in taxpayers’ money," Malliotakis told the Post. "The answer to every problem is not to throw money at it."