Musk Eyes Eagle Pass Border, Meets Officials

Elon Musk, the renowned entrepreneur and owner of X, took to his social media platform to reveal his Thursday visit to the southern border of the United States, accompanied by Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas.

Musk detailed his arrival to Eagle Pass, Texas, in a live video broadcast via his X account. The Hill reported that he embarked on the mission to personally assess the situation and engage in discussions with prominent officials and law enforcement authorities.

“Let me preface by also saying that I am, you know, as … an immigrant to the United States, I’m extremely pro-immigrant,” said Musk, who was born in South Africa. “I believe that we need a greatly expanded legal immigration system and that we should let anyone in the country who is hardworking, and honest, and will be a contributor to the United States.”

He emphasized the need for expedited legal approval processes for migrants in the United States while maintaining a firm stance against “allowing people in the country if they’re … breaking the law.”

Musk pointed to the surge of migrants heading to New York City, expressing his concern that the city is grappling with the overwhelming influx of people. He observed that the city is under immense pressure due to the high volume of newcomers.

“If New York can’t handle it, well, pretty much no part of the country can,” he said. “So if we don’t do something soon, we’re just going to have, like, a collapse in social services, as we’re already seeing in New York.”

Gonzales attributed the growing influx of migrants at the southern border to the Biden administration, characterizing the situation as a “bad situation all the way around.”

“A large part of it is because the administration is attracting these folks to come knowing full well … it’s a dead-end road that they’re going down,” Gonzales said.

“This sounds like complete madness,” Musk responded.

“It is,” Gonzales said. “Imagine if you have to live it every day. Not only is it getting mad, it’s becoming normal. That is what I worry about.”

Musk then questioned Gonzales about his perspective on a potential solution to the immigration challenge.

“We have a government that’s about to shut down, and it’s going to shut down. I think there’s an opportunity if we can reopen the government, and there’ll be real solutions attached with some border security measures that are nonpartisan,” Gonzales said.

“I’m not talking really crazy stuff one way or another. I’m talking [about] something everybody can agree on. This could be a win-win for America. We just need to get the right package to be crafted with some sensible things.”