Dozens of congressional republicans visited the US- Mexico border on Wednesday. They’re demanding stricter immigration policies in exchange for supporting President Biden’s request to continue giving aid to Ukraine. Congressman Jack Bergman (R- MI) was part of this trip. 

Congressional republicans have made securing the southern border their top priority in congress. After this recent visit to the border, it sounds like they are ready to put up an even bigger fight for more border security. 

During this border visit, members were briefed by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, met with local stakeholders and toured the border with the Texas Department of Public Safety. 

A CBP official told reporters late December the number of daily arrivals is “unprecedented”. They said illegal crossings were topping ten-thousand on some days. 

Following this visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, some republican Representatives told us the Biden administration is actively avoiding the crisis on our southern border and has sidelined the brave men and women working to address the unprecedented influx of migrants. They add this is a national security issue. Other members said the state of our southern border is worse than it’s ever been. They say the security crisis has led to a massive increase in fentanyl crossing over into our borders in massive quantities, border cities are riddled with crime and it’s draining our resources. 

Biden has expressed his willingness to make border policy compromises in exchange for support to continue aiding Ukraine. Negotiations to reach a deal among these priorities are still ongoing. We’ve reached out to Bergman’s office several times about this trip but did not hear back.