House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) are set to visit Cuellar’s home district in Loredo, Texas today, to tour the border a day after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy led a Republican delegation to the border in Arizona.
According to a press release shared with Fox News, Jeffries and Cuellar will receive a briefing from local authorities on smuggling. The Democrat leaders will also take an aerial tour of the border and then meet with border sheriffs and local mayors.
The press release said the Democrat visit will examine “various aspects of homeland security and border operations.”
NTD News reached out to Jeffries and Cuellar for comment, but they did not respond before this article was published.
McCarthy traveled to the Tucson, Arizona border sector on Thursday, along with Reps. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.), Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), and Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.).
The Tucson sector is known for its high number of “got-aways,” a term referring to people who crossed the border illegally that border authorities knew about but were unable to apprehend.
During their visit, Republicans accused President Joe Biden and his administration of failing to implement necessary border security measures.
“Why has this region gone from 66,000 people coming across to 250,000? Why does everybody wear camouflage outfits and rugs on their feet [to avoid detection]? Why are we catching so much fentanyl? The only thing that’s changed was the administration and the administration policies,” McCarthy said in a Thursday press conference.
“Why is that happening? On the day President Biden was sworn in—when you look at the gaps in the wall—why are they there? Why are these lights not working?” McCarthy continued. “Because we’ve got a new president [who] said to stop it. We paid for the metal to go up, but it’s stored far away.”
The Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee is also planning to hold a hearing on border security at the Yuma City Hall Council Chambers in Arizona on Feb. 23. Fox News reported several Democrats on the committee have decided to boycott that hearing.
The Biden administration, on Thursday, also criticized the Republican border visit.
“House Republicans should spend less time on partisan publicity stunts and more time working on solutions,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement shared with The Hill. “Solutions are what President Biden is focused on, and his plan is working. House Republicans would be wise to join him to work together to strengthen our immigration system and fund border security.”
Cuellar told Fox News that he and Jeffries were traveling to the southern border separately, to get their own perspectives on the issues.
“It’s important that members visit the border and try to get an objective understanding of the border,” Cuellar told Fox News.
Biden carried out his own border visit in January.
Republicans have criticized Biden-era border policies, such as his decision to stop border wall construction and end the pandemic-era Title 42 policies that allowed border officials to promptly return individuals found illegally crossing the border.
Biden, in return, has accused the Republican party of inaction on immigration reforms.
In his first days in office, Biden supported a bill called the “U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021.” The bill includes an eight-year pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million people living in the United States illegally. Many Republicans and conservatives opposed the bill in 2021 for supporting a pathway to citizenship without any additional spending for border security.
Despite record-high numbers of people and drugs crossing the border, Biden administration officials have insisted that the border is secure.
During a hearing last week, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) said increases in fentanyl seizures at the border under the Biden administration may be indicative of improved border security rather than a worsening crisis.
“What’s interesting about this is, of course, we had a change of president in 2020 and some changes in border policy, and what we can see here is that the facts show we are seizing a lot more fentanyl,” Porter said. “And for me, as a mom, that is a sign of success.”
From NTD News