EAGLE PASS, Texas (NewsNation) — Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk called for a “greatly expanded legal immigration” system during a visit Thursday to the U.S.-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Musk met with local leaders and law enforcement to get what he called an “unfiltered view of what’s happening.”
He said the federal government needs to address the humanitarian crisis at the southern border and also called for legal immigration to be “greatly expanded.”
“I’m extremely pro-immigrant,” said Musk. “And 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 by the same token, we should also not be allowing people in the country if they’re breaking the law.”
The most recent data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection reveals 230,000 migrant encounters along the southern border in August. Officials report approximately 11,000 encounters were recorded last weekend.
Musk was also joined by Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, whose district encompasses approximately 800 miles of the border between Texas and Mexico.
“I have never seen the crisis this bad. Over 2,200 people entered this sector yesterday (Wednesday) illegally. In El Paso, over 2,000 entered illegally. We are out of time,” he said.