In July 2013, Vela quit the Congressional Hispanic Caucus because of his opposition to the Hoeven-Corker Amendment that tied border security to a pathway to citizenship. He said “erecting more border fence drives a wedge between border communities which are culturally united”.

Vela’s wife, Rose, was a Republican justice on Texas’ 13th Court of Appeals from 2007 to 2012.

Vela was born in Harlingen, Texas and raised in Brownsville, Texas. His father, Filemon Bartolome Vela Sr., was a long-serving United States federal judge. The Reynaldo G. Garza-Filemon B. Vela United States Courthouse in Brownsville is named in Judge Vela’s honor. His mother, Blanca Sanchez Vela, served as Brownsville’s first female mayor from 1999 to 2003.

Filemon attended Saint Joseph Academy in Brownsville, Texas, and went on to receive his B.A. degree from Georgetown University in 1985. During his time at Georgetown, he served as an intern at the Federal Judicial Center, the research and education agency of the federal judicial system. He also served as an intern in Solomon P. Ortiz’s Washington, D.C. office. Vela earned his J.D. degree from University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1987.

Filemón Bartolomé Vela Jr. /ˈ f ɪ l ə ˌ m ɒ n ˈ v ɛ l ə / (born February 13, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the U.S. Representative for Texas’s 34th congressional district since 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Vela decided to run in the newly created Texas’s 34th congressional district as a Democrat. In the May 29 primary, Vela ranked first in an eight-candidate field with 40% of the vote. In the July 31 run-off primary, Vela defeated Denise Saenz Blanchard, 67% to 33%.