Gonzalez voted for the high-profile Laken Riley Act, then flip-flopped on another border security bill
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D., Texas) bragged Tuesday that he bucks the ACLU in favor of his constituents—but didn’t mention that the left-wing group gave him a 100 percent rating on its most recent legislative scorecard.
“I don’t listen to the ACLU—I listen to my district, how it feels on the ground,” Gonzalez told Politico.
Gonzalez, whose district borders Mexico, was boasting about how he voted for the high-profile Laken Riley Act—legislation that requires federal immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants accused of theft, burglary, or assaulting a law enforcement officer—even though the ACLU opposed it. But Gonzalez has flip-flopped on border issues in ways that align with the liberal nonprofit: Just last week, he voted against another bipartisan border bill and criticized Texas governor Greg Abbott’s (R.) border security measures.
The ACLU gave Gonzalez a perfect grade on its most recent legislative scorecard. The ranking, from 2021, noted that “9 out of 9 votes matched ACLU positions.” Alongside the ACLU, the congressman supported statehood for Washington, D.C., the second articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, and the American Dream and Promise Act, a bill that would create a path to citizenship for more than 2.5 million Dreamers and other immigrants.
Gonzalez—who represents 1 of just 13 congressional districts that supported Trump for president and a Democrat for Congress—voted against the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act on Thursday. The bipartisan bill, named after a border patrol officer killed less than 15 miles from Vicente Gonzalez’s district while pursuing illegal immigrants, would make it a federal crime to flee from law enforcement. The ACLU said the legislation puts border residents, especially people of color, in danger of “vigilante attacks.”
Gonzalez also called Abbott’s border security policies “nothing but political grandstanding” in response to the governor’s request for the federal government to reimburse his border spending. A majority of Texans, however, support many of those policies, including busing migrants to sanctuary cities, constructing or repairing border walls, and using buoys and barbed wire to deter migration, according to a February 2024 Texas Politics Project poll.
“I do not listen to the ACLU or any other Washington organization—anyone is free to draft up a scorecard on my voting record. Speaking of, if you’ve looked at my voting record, you’ll see that it differs from most Democrats,” Gonzalez wrote in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon. “I voted for the Laken Riley Act and was one of two Democrats to vote for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. I will always vote with my constituents in mind, not a national party.”
The ACLU did not respond to a request for comment.
