EAGLE PASS, TEXAS—On January 3, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and approximately 60 House Republicans traveled to the U.S. Southwest border with Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas to meet with border officials from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to better familiarize themselves with the immigration crisis under the Biden Administration.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) whose serves in Texas’s 23rd District which runs along the southwestern border of Texas with Mexico helped with the planning of the U.S. Congressional tour of the area.
The group met with Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, Republican lawmakers, and Chief Patrol Agent (CPA), Loredo Section, Joel Martinez, who is a 31-year veteran with the US Border Patrol.
Speaker Johnson posted the following remarks on his social media, X page:
“The border crisis is a direct result of President Biden’s failed policies. House Republicans are getting a first-hand look at the chaos and destruction.”
The speaker of the House made the following statement from the border:
“Under President Biden, America has laid out a welcome mat to illegal immigrants, smugglers, and cartels. He is responsible for the grave threat to our national security and our nation’s sovereignty.”
According to statistics listed on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) website, the number of Land and Border encounters from 2021 to 2023 has more than tripled. These are the statistics for only the U.S. Southwestern border with Mexico.
In November 2021, the USCBP document 71,113 individual border encounters. These are physical encounters between active border patrol agents with individuals attempting to cross the border illegally.
In November 2022, there were 179,253 documented encounters.
In November 2023, there were 235,173 encounters. December 2023 has already had a record number of with 252,315 encounters at the Southwest border.
On December 21, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Operation Lone Star to protect the Texas border with Mexico from the influx of immigrants. The following came directly from Governor Abbott’s webpage:
“Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to over 491,100 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 37,800 criminal arrests, with more than 34,300 felony charges. In the fight against the fentanyl crisis, Texas law enforcement has seized over 450 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.”
On Tuesday, January 2, the Biden Administration requested the U.S. Supreme Court to order U.S. border patrol agents to cut through and remove the razor wire installed with the help of the U.S. National Guard to protect the country from illegal border crossings.
While members of the 118th Congress met at the U.S. border with Mexico, the U.S. Senate has reconvened to attempt to construct a U.S. border and immigration bill that the Speaker of the House and the GOP-led Congress will agree to.
