U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) will lead their colleagues James Lankford (R-Okla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on a visit to the Rio Grande Valley on July 14 and 15 to survey the current state of the U.S.-Mexico border. The senators will be briefed by the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), as well as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP),Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Texas National Guard, local law enforcement, landowners and others.
On the current state of the border, Sen. Cruz said:
“Texans are the front line of our border crisis. Our communities suffer from the rampant influx of drugs and illegal immigration, and we suffer from the crime that accompanies it. We must do more as a country to secure our borders, but at the very least we cannot backslide by removing the current Remain in Mexico policy that is helping our Border Patrol agents manage the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants coming to the border every month. And it’s not just a humanitarian and drug crisis – there are documented cases of convicted criminals and suspected terrorists trying to exploit our open border. For Americans to have real confidence in our government’s ability to keep our nation safe, we need to see a secure southern border. As we visit the brave men and women of the Border Patrol next week, we hope to gain further insight into what steps we as elected legislators can take to secure our border and secure our communities.”
Sen. Cornyn said:
“This crisis is not getting better because the Biden Administration is simply not enforcing the law. The sheer numbers of people coming across the border are keeping the Border Patrol from their primary job, which allows drug cartels to move illicit drugs that kill thousands of Americans every year.”
The delegation of senators will:
- Participate in a night border tour with law enforcement
- Participate in a CBP aerial border tour
- Meet with local landowners to discuss the impact of the open border on Texas communities
- Receive briefings from the NBPC, CBP about the challenges these agencies face
- Receive briefing from the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety about state efforts to secure the border, known as Operation Lone Star
- Hold a press conference to discuss the state of the U.S.-Mexico border
