By Kate Reynolds
Tech billionaire Elon Musk plans to visit the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, to see and confront the immigration border crisis. On his social media site, “X” (formerly Twitter), he announced that he would visit to see the impact firsthand.
Monica Weisberg-Stewart of the Texas Border Coalition was happy Musk was coming to the border. She hoped he would use his social platform to shine a light on immigration reform. Border crossings are increasing, with August breaking the highest crossing count with more than 230,000 encounters.
Post Conversation
Elon Musk “I spoke with Rep Tony Gonzales tonight – he confirmed that it is a serious issue. They are being overwhelmed by unprecedented numbers – just hit an all-time high and still growing! Am going to visit Eagle Pass later this week to see what’s going on for myself.” 12:50 AM · Sep 26, 2023
Eagle Pass, Texas, declared a state of emergency last week due to what it described as a “severe undocumented immigrant surge” into the city over the southern border. Migrant border encounters increased almost 27 percent in August, according to Customers and Border Protection. U.S. officials dealt with 232,972 people entering the southwest border in August.
Gonzales’s office confirmed with several news outlets that he and Musk spoke on Monday (9-25).
“Yes, I will be joining him,” Gonzalez said. “Elon Musk is the jet fuel we need to get us back on track,” Gonzalez said. “We need new problem-solvers and solutions to the immigration crisis, and Elon Musk can help us move in the right direction.”