Southwest Caucus claims a bipartisan win in Congress

As a barrage of controversial executive orders from President Donald Trump inflames partisan divides in Washington, D.C., Democrat Gabe Vasquez, who represents New Mexico’s most conservative congressional district, is focused on bipartisan border security and agriculture legislation.

In his first term, Vasquez started the bipartisan Southwest Caucus with Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz. The Southwest Caucus was able to claim its first victory in the 119th Congress last week: House passage of a bill to hold human smugglers and cartel members accountable for high-speed car chases along the southern border.

“In Cochise County, high-speed car chases by cartel members, human smugglers, and other bad actors jeopardize the safety of our Customs and Border Protection agents, local law enforcement officials, and residents alike,” Ciscomani, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement.

The Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act would impose new criminal and immigration penalties for intentionally fleeing in a car from a federal officer. It passed in a 264-155 vote, with the support of 50 Democrats, including Vasquez, and has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Vasquez plans to reintroduce legislation he introduced last year, with bipartisan support, meant to increase border security by providing technology for more screening, with the goal of stopping illicit drugs being smuggled through ports of entry.

“If we actually want to talk about stopping fentanyl from reaching our communities, we have to be able to fund our ports of entry to have this updated technology. And I don’t think Republicans disagree with that,” Vasquez said.

Along with border security, Vasquez thinks bipartisan agreement can be found on wildfire preparedness. He pointed to the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act, forest management legislation that passed the House in January and has garnered pushback from some environmental groups concerned the bill would open up more public land to logging projects.

Vasquez thinks supporting international trade and protecting American farmers from Trump’s sweeping tariffs could also find bipartisan traction. Approximately 150,000 small and medium-sized farms have shuttered in the U.S. over the last decade, Vasquez said.

“If we want to talk about the family farm in New Mexico, we better be paying attention to what’s happening with tariffs and how that’s going to impact dairies, cattle growers, chile growers, onions and we’ve only seen the acreage of so many of these operations reduce in New Mexico and in our district,” Vasquez said. “Now is the time for Republicans to stand up, and some of them are, but we need more of them to stand up.”