Elon Musk wades into US immigration debate at Texas-Mexico border
- Elon Musk visited Eagle Pass, Texas, where throngs of migrants have been wading across the Rio Grande from Mexico
- He live-streamed the visit on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that he bought for US$44 billion last fall
Billionaire Elon Musk waded into the US immigration debate, paying a visit to the Texas border with Mexico to meet with local politicians and law enforcement and obtain what he called an “unfiltered” view of the situation.
Musk’s visit on Thursday came as thousands of migrants have ventured to northern Mexico in recent days on freight trains and buses, then crossed the US border into Texas, Arizona and California in an upswing in arrivals of people seeking asylum in the United States.
The sharp increase, notably around San Diego, California, and the Texas border towns of El Paso and Eagle Pass, follows an earlier lull in unauthorised border crossings following a new asylum policy imposed by Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration to discourage such activity.
Musk visited Eagle Pass, where throngs of migrants have for several days been wading across the Rio Grande near a railroad bridge in Eagle Pass, undeterred by coils of razor wire placed along the river banks by the Texas National Guard.
Dressed in a black T-shirt, black cowboy hat and aviator-style sunglasses, Musk urged a two-pronged approach to overhauling US immigration laws in a video-selfie posted to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, which he purchased last April.
He called for an “expedited legal approval” as part of a “greatly expanded legal immigration system” that welcomes “hard-working and honest” migrants, while also barring entry for those who are “breaking the law”.
