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Rep. Chip Roy: People are ‘Dying in Texas Because of Democrats’

‘[They] have no problem with wide open borders endangering the people that I represent. None.’

Published: January 24, 2024
  |   By Chris Karr
Rep. Chip Roy: People are ‘Dying in Texas Because of Democrats’

Texas Representative Chip Roy blamed Democrats for the death of people in his district while addressing Congress on Wednesday.


“The American people are tired of getting a complete lack of representation from their representatives,” he began. “Nobody in this country looks at Congress and says, ‘Wow, heck of a job, guys and gals. Well done.’ Who would do that? Would we do that?”

He said it makes no difference which party holds the majority or who serves as Speaker of the House because “we keep doing the same stupid stuff.”

He continued: “My colleagues on the other side of the aisle have no problem with wide open borders endangering the people that I represent. None.”

“And my constituents are the ones left holding the bag and the people of Texas are the ones left spending 12 and a half billion dollars. And my people are the ones who have six kids die from fentanyl poisoning in the school district that I represent,” said Roy, who represents Texas’ 21st District, which includes portions of Austin, San Antonio, and the cities of Fredericksburg and Kerrville.

Though a staff member from Roy’s Washington, D.C. office did not immediately confirm which deaths the representative referred to, he may have been referring to the six students that died in the Hays County school district between July 2022 and October 2023, per the Austin American-Statesman.

“Yeah, it’s not fun to smirk at that, is it?” he asked, while looking directly at his fellow congressmen. “When we’re talking about dead children from fentanyl poisoning because of wide open borders, because of the policies of my Democrat colleagues who refuse to do anything about it. Not a thing.”

He reiterated: “Not a thing do my colleagues do about the wide open borders.”

At that point, shouting could be heard from elsewhere in the House.

Roy said, “And I will continue to speak to my colleagues because—” before being interrupted by more shouting.

“The House will be in order,” the Speaker Pro Temp interjected. “The gentleman will address his comments to the Chair.”

“Well, Madame Speaker, I am addressing the Chair on behalf of the people I represent who are dying in Texas because of Democrats. Directly because of Democrat policies,” Roy said. “And they can shake their heads all they want. But the blood of the people in Texas [is] on their hands.”


The representative’s comments come on the heels of Texas’ refusal to abide by a recent Supreme Court ruling that Customs and Border Patrol can remove razor wire placed at the southern border by state authorities.

Video footage of Texas National Guards installing more razor wire and barriers at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas appeared on X Wednesday.

Over 22,000 migrants crossed into the park during the week before Christmas, Daily Mail reports.

“I am so grateful for the Texas National Guard, and all the other members of the Texas military department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety, who are stepping up to secure the border in the absence of Joe Biden enforcing the immigration laws of America,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote in an X post sharing one of the videos.


Abbott released an official statement on the Lone Star State’s “constitutional right to self-defense" on Wednesday afternoon.

“The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States,” he wrote. “The Executive Branch … has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting States, including immigration laws on the books right now. President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even violated them.”

Abbott added that Biden has “smashed records for illegal immigration.”

The Texas governor said Biden’s policies are responsible for 6 million illegal immigrants crossing the southern border in 3 years.

“That is more than the population of 33 different States in this country,” Abbott wrote. “This … has inflicted unprecedented harm on the People all across the United States.”

Citing the foresight of the authors of the U.S. Constitution, he invoked Texas’ constitutional authority to defend itself against an invasion.

“That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary,” he concluded.


NewsNation correspondent Jorge Ventura reported that three migrants from Venezuela are currently blocked from entering Shelby Park on Wednesday. Ventura said the migrants had been waiting on the riverbank for three days. Further, federal agents were prohibited from entering the park and did not have access to cut the razor wire.


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