Lawmakers head to U.S-Mexico border to deal with inflow of migrants

WASHINGTON – Groups of lawmakers are at the U.S.-Mexico border Friday, as the Biden administration continues to be targeted by both Republicans and Democrats for the influx of migrants at the southern border.

Texas senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn are leading a group of more than a dozen Republican senators to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, the area that is seeing some of the largest numbers of migrants crossing into the United States.

A brief by officials was received by the lawmakers on the situation at the border, touring the Customs and Border Protection Facility in Donna, Texas, and taking a boat tour in Mission, Texas.

Besides, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, is leading a group of Democratic House members on a tour of Carrizo Springs, a temporary influx facility for children that is run by the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Crisis” a term the White House has refused to use was used by Republicans and Democrats about the situation on the border. President Joe Biden on Thursday said, “a vast majority” of migrants coming to the U.S. are being sent back.

The number of migrant children accepted into the United States has increased leading to overcrowding in short-term, jail-like facilities run by Customs and Border Protection, including in facilities in the Rio Grande Valley. 

The Biden administration has struggled to move children quickly to facilities run by Health and Human Services like the facility in Carrizo Springs. By law, children are supposed to be moved out of CBP facilities within 72 hours. 

Vice President Kamala Harris is taking the lead in mitigating migration at the border by working with Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, announced Biden on Wednesday.

No media is allowed to visit the CBP facilities, as the administration is citing COVID-19 restrictions.