by A delegation of Republican lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee visited the southern border in El Paso, Texas this week to get a first-hand look at the ongoing crisis at the southern border as part of an effort to inform legislation to deal with the crisis. .
The committee held a border “bootcamp” before a hearing in Washington DC next week and a hearing at the border next month. Republicans have emphasized the need to see the communities affected by the crisis in person and for lawmakers to know the inside and the story to help create effective legislation.
Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the trip was “very informative.”
“I’ve been honest in a lot of the statistics and figures about how the Biden administration has failed us at the border. But I’m very encouraged to see it firsthand and to see the hard work of our Border Patrol agents,” he said. in an interview. “And as a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, I now have a good perspective on what the legislation needs to be to help secure our border.”
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February 24, 2023: Republican members of Congress meet with Border Patrol agents (Nick LaLota Center Office)
Lawmakers saw drug busts while touring a port of entry, toured parts of the incomplete border wall, and took an aerial tour of the border via a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) chopper.
On that flight, they saw illegal immigrants waiting to cross under the cover of darkness, but the group then ran back south of the border after seeing the helicopter. House Homeland Security chairman Rep. Mark Green said the images taken by his lawmakers dispute the story from the Biden administration that the border is secure.
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“This is what happens at the border EVERY DAY,” tweeted Green. msgstr “Our border is NOT secure.”
The delegation’s trip comes days after Republicans on the Judiciary Committee visited the southern border to hold an in-person hearing in Yuma, Arizona. The Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing on March 15 in McAllen, Texas.
The numbers at the border increased shortly after the Biden administration took office and have remained high ever since. There were over 1.7 million migrant encounters at the border in FY 21 and over 2.3 million in FY 22. So far in FY 2023, which began in October, there have been over a million encounters.
The visits to the border by Republicans – as well as some Democrats – come amid a dispute between the Biden administration and congressional Republicans over who is to blame for the crisis. The Biden administration has said it is dealing with a hemispheric challenge and that it is making progress with recently announced border measures that have reduced the number of people at the border in the past month .
The administration has asked Congress to approve more funding for the border and an immigration reform measure that includes a path to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants already in the country. He also recently announced a new asylum rule to make some migrants who crossed illegally ineligible for asylum.
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“America’s border problems will not be fixed until Congress acts. If my comprehensive immigration reform does not succeed, at least pass my plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border. And a path to citizenship for Dreamers, those on temporary status, farmworkers, and essential workers,” Biden said in his State of the Union address to Congress.
Republicans have rejected the call for a path to citizenship and continue to blame the Biden administration for rolling back Trump-era policies, scaling back enforcement and what they see as a refusal to enforce US immigration law. . Lawmakers in the House have promised to hold the administration accountable and have even impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
LaLota told Fox that he met with Border Patrol agents and saw how low their morale was after dealing with a two-year crisis.
“Their morale is low,” he said. “As a group they are not getting the support they deserve from the Biden administration and honestly that needs to change and it needs to change immediately.“
He said that while Republicans are likely to introduce additional legislation in the coming weeks, it will also require the Biden administration to step up.
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“The committee is going to present a comprehensive bill that addresses staffing issues, that addresses technology, that does, in terms of resources, everything that needs to be done at the border,” he said. “But what we can’t do is force Biden to be a leader on this issue. He and Secretary Mayorkas need to find that leadership within themselves. That’s the key piece that’s missing here and he can only provide that.”
