Transcript: Rep. Tony Gonzales on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," June 8, 2025

CBS News

3 days ago

The following is the transcript of an interview with Rep. Tony Gonzales, Republican of Texas, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on June 8, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We are now joined by Texas Republican Representative Tony Gonzalez. Good morning, and good to have you here.
REP. TONY GONZALES: Yeah, thank you for having me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You are always focused on immigration because of your district, but when you're watching what happens out there in LA, and using federal authorities as they are being used here, are you comfortable with what the President is doing?
REP. GONZALES: Yeah, first, happy birthday to my mama, who's back in San Antonio. To your question, yes. I am comfortable with it. It's tragic to see what's happening in LA. I spent 20 years in the military. I fought in two wars. I fought to give people the freedom to protest whatever the hell they want to, but, what we're seeing in LA are not advocates. We're seeing anarchists, and the President of the United States should absolutely put down the mob as soon as possible. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Are you comfortable with active-duty Marines being put on high alert for possible deployment to quell a civil disturbance?
REP. GONZALES: If need be. But you know, you always want to escalate --
MARGARET BRENNAN: Against the will of the governor?
REP. GONZALES: -- you always want to escalate, to de-escalate. But it first starts where you have to- have to- have local law enforcement get engaged. But, if local law enforcement is removed, and then you don't have the state law enforcement, then who is going to take care of the people? I want to see safety. I want to see safety and security all places, to include LA. But once again, this is the tip of the iceberg. We're talking about – we're talking about, you know, 100,000 people that have been deployed – or that have been deported. The numbers are about to go way up.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We have reached out to the state. We have reached out to the Mayor. The LAPD, as I was reading there, the top federal prosecutor in that city said LAPD did respond. The sheriff in Paramount said they aren't there to do federal law enforcement, but they did respond when federal authorities were in peril and asked for help. But, bringing it to your district, you have a major city, you have San Antonio. You also have rural areas. Is the administration targeting blue cities with blue governors they don't like? Or are you seeing similar actions in Texas?
REP. GONZALES: I think what they're targeting is they're trying to deport people as fast as they possibly can. What's going to happen is they're going to- it's going to be across the country. And once again, this is the tip of the iceberg. Joe Biden took a hatchet--
MARGARET BRENNAN: -- What do you mean by that?
REP. GONZALES: Joe Biden took a hatchet to the – to the – to an already broken immigration system. Right now, there's over 400,000 asylum seekers that under the last administration had their cases closed without adjudication. They weren't given a yes. They weren't given a no. They just had their cases closed. So, one could argue that these 400,000 people are in this country illegally and should be deported immediately. One could also argue that these 400,000 people did not get proper, you know, opportunity to state their case, and they didn't – and they didn't have that ability. What I'm worried about is this thing's going to escalate. It's not going to be just LA it'll be cities all over the country, as we continue to deport people.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You said back in November, the administration would fail if it began going after non-violent migrants. You said, "if the message is, we're here to deport your abuelita, this is not going to work well." You heard our reporting. People are getting arrested going to court appearances, trying to abide by the law. We have these cases of, for example, a 19-year-old high schooler on his way to volleyball team practice in Massachusetts, arrested because the student visa had expired. An Afghan soldier in Houston who used to guard American soldiers at bases with eight kids to his name, arrested even though he entered this country with legal status. Are these people the worst of the worst?
REP. GONZALES: They're not. But when this is what's going to happen is as- as these 400,000 asylum seekers that are in limbo, if you will, start to get deported- Maria, who's 23 years old, that was from Honduras, that was- was told to come to the United States for a better life, and has gotten married and has had children, as she gets ripped from that life and gets sent back to Honduras, it's going to be very painful for us. What I'd like for us to do is focus on the- the convicted criminal illegal aliens. Last year, I asked the administration--
MARGARET BRENNAN: -- But is that happening? Because right now it looks like they're trying to run up the numbers frankly.
REP. GONZALES: Last year the- I asked the administration what that number was. It was 662,000. Last month I asked- as of July of last year. Last month, I asked Secretary Noem, under- under oath, I asked her, has that number increased or has that number decreased. She- she responded that the number of convicted criminal illegal aliens has increased, so that means we have over 600,000. We should absolutely focus on that population, the worst of the worst, and make sure that those are the areas that get removed. Otherwise, it's going to take us down this route of constant civil conflict.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The vice president used what's happening as an opportunity to say that this massive bill the President wants Congress to pass should get passed quickly. It's got about $46 billion for the border wall, other money for Border Patrol. The Homeland Security chair in the Senate, Rand Paul, was on this program last Sunday. He said, this is too much money. It inflates the cost of the wall eightfold. Should the Senate claw back some of the money that members of the House just passed?
REP. GONZALES: Well, I don't know if- I don't know if Rand Paul has ever found a bill he's ever liked, and he's probably not wrong, because every bill has flaws to it. But there's $168 billion in this bill for border security. That's important, but it's also important that we have oversight to this funds. You can't just write a blank check to the administration and expect them to go out and accomplish these. These are very complicated, difficult tasks. This is where Congress has to come alongside and make sure that those funds are going to the right places, that, once again, that they were going after these convicted, over 600,000 convicted criminal illegal aliens, that everyone you know agrees that ,you know, you take those people out of your out of your community, everyone gets safe. That's the area we should focus on.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, you voted for this bill, the last version of it that the Senate is now tweaking. You're also a fan of Elon Musk. You were on this program like, I think it was back in March, and you said he's like the Prime Minister of the United States. Sorry, December, I think. Musk said about this bill, this massive, outrageous, pork filled congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. You know it was wrong. Are you going to reconsider your vote after- vote after the Senate finishes its review?
REP. GONZALES: Well, one Elon has done more for humanity and is going to continue to do more. That's why I'm a fan of his. Two is he speaks without a filter. He's not wrong. You know, that bill had a lot of issues to it. But I don't get it-you know, as a member, I get to say yes or no. I get to make it as best as possible. We got to see what the Senate does. What I'm really concerned is, what is- you know, are they going to touch Medicaid, right? The president has said, don't touch Medicaid. We've come out very early on a lot of members on the House to make sure you don't gut programs that work. And how do you give money to the resources where you need it, like border security? So, the Senate's going to do its part. I got to wait to see the final product before I'm a yes or no, but I think we have a lot of work to do.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Are you comfortable with what it does to Medicaid?
REP. GONZALES: Right now, I mean, from where it was, yeah. I'm okay with people having to work in order to- to get benefits. I don't want to see- what I don't want to see is I don't want to see seniors have, you know, in the most vulnerable of our population, have their- have their health care ripped away from them, and I think a lot of that has been clawed back.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we will watch the developing news on this front. Thank you, Congressman.
REP. GONZALES: Thanks, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We'll be right back.