House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) visited 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.
Democratic Findings
Jeffries said border officials briefed him and Cuellar about their drug smuggling concerns at the border. Jeffries said it’s important for Democrats and Republicans to address this together.The House Democratic Party leader said Congress should focus on providing Border Patrol officials with more technology to intercept fentanyl.
“Everyone has been pretty clear with us today that it will be that investment in technology and innovation that will dramatically increase our ability to stop the flow of fentanyl and other drugs into the United States of America,” Jeffries said. “That’s something that House Democrats have led on.”
Cueller said he and Jeffries traveled to Loredo to gain a “balanced view” of the conditions at the border.
Dueling Border Visits
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 Biden administration, on Thursday, also criticized the Republican border visit.
Biden’s Border Policies
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.
“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.”