At debate, Mayra Flores shrugs off concern about mandating South Texans carry passports

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McALLEN — Former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores said she has no problem with requiring South Texans to carry passports to prove their citizenship.

Flores, a Republican running to recapture the congressional seat she briefly held in 2022, made that assertion Thursday night during a debate with U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, the Democrat incumbent. Gonzalez was explaining why he voted against a border security bill championed by former President Donald Trump.

Flores and Gonzalez are locked in one of Texas’ only contested congressional races. And both political parties have made the seat a priority.

Gonzalez said that legislation, known as Secure the Border Act, would have required South Texas residents to present a passport at an interior border patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias, a town nearly 80 miles north of McAllen. The checkpoint is an unavoidable stop for Valley residents traveling north. Most people who live in Congressional District 34 in the state's southeast corner are Hispanic — 84%.

"What's wrong with that?" Flores said.

The debate moderators pressed Flores, who was born in Mexico and became a naturalized citizen when she was 14.

"What's wrong with being able to have some type of ID?” Flores said. “There's nothing wrong with that."

After taking back the House, Republicans offered legislation that would have started construction on the border wall, dramatically restricted asylum applications and ended protections for migrants. It also would have made it mandatory for employers to verify the eligibility of workers in the U.S.

Gonzalez said he voted against the bill in part because he believed the system used to verify workers was too faulty and that the punishment for employers not using it was too steep. That's when he added that it would effectively require people in his district to carry passports.

Conservative lawmakers, including state legislators in Texas, have increasingly pushed for stricter identification requirements either to curb illegal immigration or unsubstantiated claims of illegal voting among noncitizens.

However, those efforts have faced legal challenges and backlash from immigrant rights groups.

In 2023, the Texas Legislature approved a law, known as Senate Bill 4, that would allow police to arrest people suspected of crossing the Rio Grande illegally from Mexico into Texas. The bill was dubbed a “show me your papers” bill by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas which was among the groups that sued the state to block the bill from going into effect.

The Flores campaign did not immediately respond to an interview request following the debate.

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.