Congressman Gonzalez Rebukes President Biden for his Refusal to Grant Clemency to South Texans

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) released a statement following President Biden’s actions to grant clemency to thousands of nonviolent offenders across the country; the President’s latest decision to grant pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and Members of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol; and the President’s failure to adequately use his powers to uplift Hispanics and Latinos in South Texas.  

"As a member of the U.S. Congress who believes in second chances, I am deeply disappointed that President Biden - who made headlines for pardoning his son and issuing a record number of commutations and pardons - refused to grant clemency to deserving Hispanics in South Texas and across this country. These nonviolent offenders paid their debt to society and took all of the requisite steps to remove a stain from their record only to be met with rejection.”   

“Instead of doing the right thing and giving these men and women a second chance, President Biden listened to his liberal advisers who cared more about appeasing Washington inner circles and culture extremist than the hardworking people that elected him and the Members of Congress who advocated for their constituents and delivered legislative wins for him - many times at the risk of losing re-election. According to the Bureau of Prisons, 29.1 percent of inmates are Hispanic/Latino, yet they only make up around 10 percent of the commutations given by President Biden.”  

“I fear that the decision not to use this moment to give large swaths of Latinos a new lease on life is just another example of the bad advice that led our party to massive losses across the country. This blatant incompetence is no doubt what lost the White House and will continue to haunt our party until major common-sense reforms are made. I will continue to work with President Trump and across the aisle until justice is properly served.” 

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