Texas congressman on Democrats’ DHS demands, Trump Administration’s deportation methods and more

WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA) - Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the Democrats' demands regarding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

According to Brennan, the current funding for DHS is set to expire later this week, and the Democrats are demanding a number of the following reforms:

• Require a judicial warrant, not just an administrative one, to enter private property
• Federal law enforcement to show their IDs, wear body cameras and standard uniforms
• No masks
• Protecting sensitive locations like schools and churches
• Stop racial profiling
• Coordinate with local jurisdictions to prosecute crimes

This comes after two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis last month.

When asked if he was on board with the demands, and if he sees a deal, Rep. Gonzales said:

"I think we need to work through it. There are some things that make sense, there's a lot of things that don't. Just a few days ago, this was a bipartisan vote, and all of a sudden, now the Democrats are trying to hold the country hostage. I'll tell you what's not going to be in there, amnesty for illegal aliens. I'll tell you what's not going to be there, stripping away protections for law enforcement officers that are trying to protect themselves. If rioters get to wear a mask, then law enforcement gets to wear a mask as well. What can be in there? I think the body cameras make a lot of sense. I was really encouraged to see Secretary [Kristi] Noem and Tom Homan execute that. I think those are, those are good parts of it, and another, another thing that works going back to my district, another thing that works is communication. I think it'd be very, very key if there were communication liaisons in all the communities that ICE has, meaning not changing policy, just sharing communication from the community. Let's say the city manager, let's say city council, community leaders, up to the administration and back down. I saw the Biden administration do this with ranch liaisons when the ranchers were really upset. And once again, that helped. These are a couple things that I think...could be the glue that gets this package going."

During the interview, Brennan and Gonzales talked about the Trump Administration's deportation methods.

According to a CBS News poll last month, 63% of Americans said they do not support President Donald Trump's methods used for mass deportation, even though they said they liked the idea of it.

The congressman also said, in the past, he questioned whether the administration was really focusing on the worst of the worst, prompting Brennan to ask Gonzales if the administration is hearing the concerns people have raised, and if he thinks there's any improvement, to which he said:

"Very early on I mentioned, hey, if we go down this route as a party, we're not going to be successful, and we're seeing some of that with some of these special elections that are happening. I am encouraged, I've seen the administration highlight more unconvicted criminal aliens...in their arrests and in their focus of going into the jails. If you go into a jail and you go cell-by-cell, that makes a lot more sense to American people than going house-by-house, going, are you an American citizen or not? And it's safer. It's safer for the agents as well. So I think if we go down that route...we as a Republican Party, will be successful. The other part of it too is to talk about legal immigration. The president has mentioned this many times. Last week...there was 65,000 work visas that he signed off on. Where he goes, you're not invited to this country if you come in illegally, but if you're here legal, we encourage you to come, you know, do it the right way."

Later in the interview, Brennan and Gonzales talked about Liam Ramos' father saying his son, who is five-years-old, is not okay, is waking up at night crying, and and is worried he's going to be taken again.

When asked if the Trump Administration is still trying to deport Ramos, and if he understand why they are so focused on him and his dad if they did cross the border using the CBPOne app, Gonzales said:

"[They got into the country] via an app that Biden knew exactly what he was doing, and he created this huge mess, and now President Trump is there to clean up...Bottom line is...they're not going to qualify for asylum. So what do you do with all the people that go through the process and do not qualify for asylum? You deport them. I understand the five-year-old and it, you know, it breaks my heart. I have a five year old at home."

Brennan then followed up by asking if the congressman was comfortable defending it, and he said, "I feel comfortable" adding, "We can be compassionate, and we can also enforce our laws. And I think that's the secret sauce that the administration and Congress must do. Let's enforce our laws, but let's do it in a humane way."

Brennan and Gonzales also talked about a post on social media regarding former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, leading her to ask Gonzales if he thinks President Trump should apologize, and the congressman said:

"It's up to the president. There's no room in this country for racism, antisemitism, socialism, all the isms need to go...I think it was very, very upsetting to a lot of people...the part of no one's talking about that video is about election integrity. And so, the bulk of it was on election integrity, which is a very important topic. What I suspect is going to happen is the White House is going to, in the coming days, issue a memo on their policy for this upcoming election. And I suspect director of national intelligence is going to be at the center of building that out and making sure our midterm elections are safe and secure."

To watch Brennan's full interview with Gonzales, click here.