Elon Musk enters immigration debate with border town visit

Visit to Eagle Pass is latest instance where billionaire has thrown himself into US politics

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  Migrants being processed by US Border Patrol personnel under International Bridge II in Eagle Pass, Texas. AP

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  More than 4,000 migrants crossed into Eagle Pass this week, overwhelming the town whose population is under 30,000. AP

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  Eagle Pass borders the city of Piedras Negras, Mexico, which is across the Rio Grande. AP

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  Migrants in Eagle Pass. AP

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  Migrants walk the Rio Grande searching for a way through the concertina wire and into the U. S. at Eagle Pass, Texas. AP

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  The US Customs and Border Protection said it has redirected personnel to assist Border Patrol with taking migrants into custody. AP

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  The approach to the processing centre under International Bridge II in Eagle Pass. AP

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  A migrant family from Peru wait to surrender to authorities in Eagle Pass after wading across the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico. Reuters

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  US Border Patrol agents process hundreds of migrants under the International Bridge II in Eagle Pass. AP

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  Migrants in Eagle Pass, Texas. AP

Billionaire Elon Musk waded into the US immigration debate by visiting Eagle Pass, a border town in Texas that has recently experienced an influx of migrant crossings.

Thousands of migrants have crossed the Rio Grande to seek asylum in the US. Thousands of migrants have also entered through El Paso and San Diego, California.

Wearing a black T-shirt, cowboy hat and aviator sunglasses, Mr Musk toured the border town with Republican US Representative Tony Gonzales.

The Tesla chief executive noted that he himself is an "immigrant to the United States" and said that he is "extremely pro-immigrant" during a video he posted on X.

Mr Musk urged for "expedited legal approval" to greatly expand the US "legal immigration system" that would welcome "hard-working and honest migrants", Reuters reported him saying. However, he said those rules should prohibit entry for anyone who is "breaking the law".

"We want to do both things – smooth out legal immigration and stop a flow of people that is of such magnitude that we’re leading to a collapse of social services," he said.

Mr Musk also suggested that some migrants seeking asylum in the US were murderers, referring to migrants with specific tattoos.

"You're actually happy that you killed someone," Mr Musk said of people sporting a teardrop-style tattoo.

Immigration – and the US southern border – is a longstanding Republican issue.

Mr Musk's visit to the border city is the latest episode of him wading into US politics.

Elon Musk views the Rio Grande with US Representative Tony Gonzales during a visit to Eagle Pass, Texas.

He had previously hosted a Twitter space to help launch Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign. He also suggested in a Twitter poll that Ukraine should give Crimea to Russia as part of a peace plan.

Mr Musk last week met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who urged the billionaire to protect free speech and fight hate speech on X.