Letter from 55 Texas House Republicans calling for a freeze on immigration programs

Ema Alice: A group of 55 Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives signed a letter this week calling on Congress to freeze immigration programs in the wake of the deadly shooting at an Austin bar.

“We write to you today with a clear and urgent message: The time for deliberation has passed. The American people — and the people of Texas — demand immigration policies that place the safety and welfare of Americans first,” the letter reads. The letter lists four demands:

Fully fund the Department of Homeland Security

Immediately freeze all H-1B visa issuances

Pause all immigration until proper vetting protocols are established

Redirect resources toward identifying threats already within our borders

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“We do not have an adequate accounting of who is in this country,” the Republicans write. “Until we can guarantee that our systems are capable of identifying, tracking, and vetting individuals who enter the United States, we cannot in good conscience continue to process new immigration applications at the current pace. A pause is not anti-immigrant — it is pro-American.”

Early Sunday morning a gunman opened fire at a popular bar in downtown Austin. Four people, including the shooter, are dead and 13 others were injured.

Austin police identified the shooter as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne. The Department of Homeland Security said he entered the U.S. from Senegal on a tourist visa in March 2000. Since then, he became a lawful permanent resident and gained citizenship. The Federal Bureau of Investigations said its investigating the shooting as a potential act of terrorism. The Republican letter sent to both majority and minority leaders of Congress called the shooting a terrorist attack.

Matt Hughes is a former consular officer who served in American embassies around the world for 10 years. Part of his job was vetting and approving visa applications and “ensuring that people coming to the United States are the types of people that we want to have here.”

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He believes no amount of intelligence or updated vetting process would have prevented the tragedy that unfolded in the Texas capital.

“You would need a crystal ball to be able to say that somebody who came here 25 years ago is going to become potentially radicalized or maybe have some sort of mental break and end up committing an atrocious crime like this,” Hughes explained. Hughes said he believes the information and intelligence sharing between international agencies and local, state, and federal agencies provides a lot of data on visa applicants that are seeking to enter the country.

He argues that freezing immigration programs would have a significant impact on the American economy.

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“If we become a country that’s not welcoming to the best and the brightest, that’s going to come back to bite us,” Hughes said.

On Wednesday, the registration period for new H-1B visas opened. This certain visa allows American companies to employ foreign workers with a highly specialized skill.

H-1B visas have been criticized by Republicans with some federal legislative proposals that would have phased the program out. In January, Gov. Greg Abbott directed all state agencies controlled by his appointees, and public institutions of higher education, to freeze all H-1B visa applications until May 2027. The governor cited “recent reports of abuse” as his reasoning for freezing applications and investigating the program.

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