My Trip to the Southern Border

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit McAllen, Texas with the Select Committee on the Economy. While the Democrats on this committee planned the trip to have a field hearing on infrastructure and climate issues along the border, I took the opportunity to again witness firsthand the disastrous effects of President Biden’s open border policies. While infrastructure is important, we cannot simply ignore the impacts the immigration crisis has on our southern border communities.

As soon as we arrived, we met with the National Border Patrol Council, National Guard, and the Texas Department of Public Safety to hear their perspectives on the crisis and the day-to-day challenges they face while performing their duties. We then departed for the night tour, where I witnessed immigrants illegally entering across the Texas border. I had the chance to speak with a few of them, including a 14-year-old who was traveling by herself to meet with family in Tennessee. She was very comfortable with the requirements and the process of entering our nation.

This portion of the trip confirmed what I expected – Biden’s open-border policies have created a humanitarian crisis, incentivizing an overwhelming number of migrants to take the dangerous journey to America. Many children, as young as their early teens are traveling alone, facing serious risks from drug and human traffickers.

It was also clear that the events at the southern border affect every single part of our nation. Once migrants cross the border, they can travel wherever they choose in the U.S. Without proper control and vetting there is no way to track the people entering our communities, many of which are smuggling illicit and deadly drugs like fentanyl. Additionally, a record number of people on the terrorist watch list have been caught attempting to cross into the U.S., which poses a serious national security risk.

The following day, we visited the Texas communities along the southern border, talking with residents and leaders from Hidalgo County. Later we held the Select Committee on the Economy hearing, where Democrats focused on infrastructure struggles within these disadvantaged small towns. While this is a worthwhile discussion, they ignored the root causes of their challenges, which is the wide-open border. These rural communities are forced to divert their resources from emergency responses, hospital care, and funding for infrastructure projects, to keep pace with the rising surge of migrants.

The federal government must step up. If the Biden Administration secured our southern border, states like Texas would not be forced to spend $2 billion a year on border control. Instead, they would be able to use this funding to address the challenges their communities face. What I saw in Texas is a direct result of Biden’s open border policies. The border crisis remains a top priority of mine. The Biden Administration must reverse their harmful policies and restore order and safety in our country.