House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Since picking up the gavel, he plans to lead a House delegation to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday.
McCarthy Heads to Borderlands Cochise County, Arizona with four other members of Congress, including Arizona Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani. Lori Chavez Delemar of Oregon. Jen Kigans of Virginia and Derrick Van Oden of Wisconsin.
McCarthy’s office says he and four freshman members of Congress will be on an aerial tour of the area with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents.
McCarthy has made several such visits during his time as Republican leader, but it will be his first since taking the presidency in January.
Border Patrol Takes Down Illegal Immigrants, Smugglers
The visit comes as Republicans condemn President Biden’s remarks Responding to border crises. Biden confirmed monthly border encounters from 100,000 in February 2021 to over 250,000 in December 2022. CBP first recorded more than 230,000 border encounters in October 2023 and has surpassed that number every month since.
That statistic does not include the number of known “fugitives,” i.e. migrants who were detected by CBP authorities but not arrested. Since Biden took office in January 2021, border crossings have exploded and at least 1.2 million migrants have managed to escape authorities.
Biden first visited the border in early January during his presidency, but many border agents argued it was too little, too late. New York City Mayor Eric Adams Criticize Biden’s handling of this issue.
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CBP officials confirmed an estimated 718,000 border encounters in the first 100 days of fiscal 2023, which began October 1.
