Rep. Silvestre Reyes

Congressman Silvestre Reyes, now in his fifth term, became the first Hispanic to represent the 16th District of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996.

The 16th District of Texas includes the City of El Paso and surrounding communities and lies within the El Paso County boundary. It is located at the westernmost tip of Texas along the Rio Grande River and across from El Paso’s sister city of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. El Paso and Ciudad Juárez comprise the largest border community in the United States.

After serving his country in Vietnam, Reyes decided to devote his life to public service. In 1969, he began his career with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in the U.S. Border Patrol. After serving as an agent, he was Assistant Regional Commissioner in Dallas, Texas for five years, where he had direct responsibility for administering a budget program exceeding $100 million for a 13-state area.

Reyes was then promoted to Sector Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol first in McAllen and subsequently in El Paso from 1984 to 1995. Reyes quickly became known as one of our government's strongest and most effective innovators in border management. In McAllen and El Paso, Reyes initiated forward-thinking initiatives as "Operation Hold the Line," the Border Patrol's Canine Program, and the Border Patrol's National Anti-Drug School Education Program. "Hold the Line" continues as part of the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (formerly the INS) strategy for the entire Southwest border and earned Reyes recognition from the White House, Congress, the Department of Justice and the INS, as well as numerous local, state, national and international organizations.

Known as "Silver" to his friends, Reyes retired in December 1995 after 26 1/2 years with the Border Patrol to run for Congress.

Leadership in Congress

Reyes arrived in Washington with a plan to provide leadership on border issues, improve and enhance education in El Paso, protect veterans' benefits, and support our nation’s defense by enhancing El Paso’s regional military facilities of Fort Bliss, White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base. Reyes works closely with his colleagues – Democrats and Republicans alike – and has been hailed as "one of the most aspiring and active members in Congress, always ready to make a difference on Capitol Hill."

Reyes is considered the "go-to" Member of Congress on border security and immigration issues, and Members of the House of Representatives and Senators alike consistently seek out his opinion when developing pertinent legislation. Reyes has played a leadership role over the past nine years in the developing the annual U.S.-Mexico Border Issues Conference in Washington, DC, which draws together policy experts, media pundits and the general public to explore and remedy the myriad challenges and needs facing the U.S.-Mexico border. Reyes has also played a leadership role in creating the annual Border Security Conference at the University of Texas-El Paso. As a gateway for approximately 3,000 cargo trucks each day, the El Paso community is a hub of international commerce, and the security of our borders is not only important to our daily routine of cross-border travel, but to our nation’s economy as well. The annual Border Security Conference explores policy and technological initiatives to keep our community, our nation and our economy safe.