Texas Democrat Michelle Vallejo recently claimed she wants bipartisan solutions for the “chaos at the border,” but her record suggests a different tune.
Vallejo is challenging Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX) this year in a rematch for Texas’ 15th Congressional District. On Tuesday, the Vallejo campaign released an ad focused on border security.
“The Valley will always be home,” Vallejo says in the ad. “But our community is being overwhelmed by the chaos at the border. And it’s time to get serious.”
“I’ll work with Republicans and Democrats to add thousands of new border agents and take on the cartels and human trafficking,” she continued.
The campaign ad starkly contrasts Vallejo’s previous comments on border security. She advocated against a border wall when speaking at a 2022 Democratic primary forum. Additionally, she complained about “hyper-militarization” at the border with “so many people on patrol.”
“We know that a lot of the infrastructure that has been put into the border wall has not been useful in the sense that it has not been an effective use of funds, and it has torn our communities apart,” she said at the event.
Vallejo reiterated this border wall opposition in a 2022 social media post.
“Our border region deserves to be embraced and invested in, not walled off from the rest of the world,” she tweeted.
Vallejo’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Delanie Bomar, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Conference, called Vallejo’s sudden support for border security a “stunt.”
“This is a classic election year stunt by Michelle Vallejo, who has advocated against Border Patrol and ICE for many years,” she told The Dallas Express. “South Texas has a fighter in Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz, and the voters will re-elect her this November.”
Vallejo’s ad in favor of border security reportedly frustrated left-wing activists. LUPE Votes, a grassroots organization at the border, is considering pulling its endorsement of Vallejo, according to Politico.
De La Cruz defeated Vallejo by nearly 10 percentage points in 2022, making her the first Republican and woman to represent Texas’ 15th Congressional District.
Rep. Vincente Gonzalez (D-TX) previously represented Texas’ 15th Congressional District before being redistricted to the 34th in 2022. Gonzalez faces a tight re-election campaign this year against former Rep. Mayra Flores (R-TX), as previously reported by DX.