Republicans visit the US-Mexico border in Texas – watch live

Republicans visit the US-Mexico border in Texas – watch live

Check one two check one two my check my check oh good test test test one two three testing one two three testing one one two 3 my check my check everybody yes ok For Line start here all right Set back just a bit so can I know nobody can see me here don’t stand in the backbody good want to get a nice and tight over me want to step Up thank James you want to help me fill in so everybody can get like this is going to be like the end I knowes any we’re gonna I love you you have ay Mar one wrinkle Two Sisters I have three daughters I know what I’m talking they did tell what we’re doing

There’s plenty of yeah [Applause] well we want to thank all of you for being here today uh I want to thank all of my colleagues for joining me here in the epicenter of the uh of the crisis that we’re having On the Border here in Eagle Pass Texas it’s been quite a day

I’ll tell you a little bit about uh what we we’ve learned here today uh but I first I want to tell you that we have uh a great cross-section of the of the house we have 64 House Republicans that have joined us here in Eagle Pass they

Represent 26 States one US Territory you have everybody from uh from from California to Maryland from Michigan to to Florida we we represent over half the US states because every state in America is now a border state and we’ve seen that on Vivid display today today we

Were able to meet with local residents with Sheriff with the Texas DPS we also toured the CBP processing facility here in Eagle Pass and it’s been an eye opener one thing is absolutely clear America is at a Breaking Point with record levels of illegal immigration and

Today we got a firsthand look at the damage and the chaos the Border catastrophe is causing in all of our communities the situation here and across the country is truly unconscionable we would describe it as both heartbreaking and infuriating our communities are overrun we have local resources that are being strapped

We have lethal drugs that are pouring into our country at record levels and it’s in less than three years that President Biden took office that this has happened that we have over 7 million illegal encounters at the border nearly 2 million known getaways and that doesn’t count the many that are

Undetected at 312 Suspects on the Terrace watch list that have app been apprehended we have no idea how many terrorists have come into the country and set up terrorism cells Across the Nation last month alone we saw the most illegal Crossings in recorded history it is an unmitigated

Disaster a catastrophe and what’s more tragic is that it’s a disaster of the president’s own design uh about an hour ago we uh had lunch and and there were a number of sheriffs that uh work and serve here along the border of Texas the sheriff of Terrell County was one of

Them he was a former border Patrol agent for 26 years and he said in his estimation it took less than 6 months for the Biden Administration to dismantle 100 years of progress that the US border patrol had achieved some of the first actions that Joe Biden took

When he uh rolled into the Oval Office where that he rolled back border security measures that were put in place by the Trump Administration we all saw it happened remember it was on his very first day in office that President Biden stopped construction of the Southern

Border wall and he ended the remain in Mexico policy it was estimated on our tour just a moment ago that if the Biden Administration would reinstate just the remain in Mexico policy it could stem the Flow by probably 70% or more but he refuses to do it and since the time that

President Biden took office the Administration has done next to nothing to protect the Border but we’ve all seen with our own eyes they have opened the Border wide to the entire world it’s estimated that nearly 170 countries have people coming in and flowing across this boorder order and some of these are from

Nations uh that that have high numbers of concentration and these are these are not uh people who are fleeing and looking for Asylum that are in fear for their lives in their home countries uh we have hardened criminals coming across that border they’re the ones being released from prisons from some of these

Countries and sent here to come into the US rather than incentivizing people to come the president needs to deter people from entering the country rather than discussing amnesty with Mexico as top Biden Administration officials did within the last couple of weeks this Administration should reinstate the Romania Mexico policy as was said rather

Than expanding Parole Authority to an unprecedented scale the President should obviously end Catch and Release and stop the abuse of our parole and Asylum systems the president can and should act now this doesn’t require legislation it requires leadership and and despite the White House’s claim he has all the

Authority he needs right now under existing federal law LA to stop this madness but the message his policies has sent is the opposite of that it’s quite clear under President Biden America has laid out a welcome M to illegal immigrants Smugglers and cartels he is responsible for the grave threat to our

National security and our in our nation’s sovereignty that these policies have created but instead of taking responsibility and providing leadership this Administration has done nothing but attack elected officials who are trying to fix this catastrophe the people standing behind you have worked hard we passed our legislation more than 7

Months ago you have red and blue States all across this country that are being forced to step up because the federal government has failed to do its job right here in Texas governor Abbott has heroically done more to enforce the law than the president has and how has this

Administration responded they have sued the state of Texas to stop their deterrence efforts they have brought them to court to to strike down their ability to put up uh buoys in the water and and razor wire and the rest it’s absolute Insanity the house has done its

Job as I mentioned we delivered a common sense legislation that will secure our border but it’s been sitting on Chuck Schumer’s desk for seven months house resolution 2 was our was our our bill and the time to act on it is yesterday it certainly needs to happen with each

Passing day each record broke in this administration’s dereliction of Duty comes more becomes more and more dangerous and more and more infuriating and we are here to say that it must stop what we saw today only made House Republicans more resolved to stand for sanity and the American people and we

Will do it if President Biden wants a supplemental spending Bill focused on National Security it better Begin by defending America’s national security it begins right here on our Southern border we have a a few members here that will give you some more insight on what we saw today and what we

Anticipate and and I’ll I’ll lead off next with the chairman of our homeland security committee Mark green of Tennessee Mark I want to thank the speaker for uh putting this codell together really appreciate it thank you for all uh coming it’s important to bring uh what’s happening here to the

American people to all of the American people I also want to thank the members who are here you know I first took the oath to defend the Constitution of the United States against enemies foreign and domestic on the plane at West Point when I was 17 years old and for the

Better part of my adult life I have spent that training and fighting foreign terrorists and now as a chairman of the committee on homeland security I contend with the domestic threats to this nation the greatest domestic threat to the National Security and the safety of the American people is secretary Alejandro mayorcas

Right he through his policies has defied and subverted the laws passed by the United States Congress he has defied multiple court orders he has lied numerous times to the United States Congress he has under oath stated things that were blatantly obviously incorrect he has broken his oath to defend this

Country even AG Garland admitted that the policies of mayorcas are being used by the cartels to exploit the American people and make billions of dollars putting Americans at risk hundreds of thousands Americans dead to fentel tens of thousands of young people trafficked into sex slavery bill millions of dollars

Wasted expanded criminal networks now connected to the drug cartels in Mexico throughout our entire country director Ray admitted before my committee the other day our committee the other day that with the Border wide open and a war in Israel Hamas can just walk right in that’s the director of the

FBI he fears for his own agents it’s clear this is intentional secretary mayorcas knows the policies if the AG knows the policies are the cause secretary mayorcas knows the policies are the cause he’s doubling down he’s doing this intentionally despite the catastrophic harm to our country well our committee has finished

Its five-phase investigation I want to thank the members of the committee for their hard work and our staff you’re going to see a lot more coming here very soon I’m going to let my colleagues talk about the numbers because I I get to talk about them all the time um I want

To spend my time my two minutes this morning telling you that the cause of the problem is Alejandra mearis thanks again to the speaker for putting this together the members for coming every state and city in this country is a border state but I want to

Say a special thank you and salute to Texas you have borne the brunt of this and we we will not let you down accountability is coming I promise and I will be followed by the amazing chairman of the Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan thanks uh thanks Mark and I doo

Want to thank the speaker I want to thank all the people in law enforcement that we got a chance to interact with today yeah that’s that’s that’s kind of what we we we all know how serious this problem is so I would just say this I think there are the country understands

The magnitude of the problem but I think there are three fundamental questions we got to ask what’s the cause what is the true magnitude of this problem and then what’s the solution we all know the cause the speaker said this the cause is the policies of the Biden Administration

And they frankly decided on day one January 20th 2021 when he took the off office they decided that day no more building the wall no more remain in Mexico and they were going to release people who came to the country and that became the incentive for so many

Millions to come to our great country the magnitude of the problem you’ve all heard the numbers but I just point to two last month record month 300,000 illegal migrants come into the country the pace of the Biden Administration in his in his term as president will will

Reach 12 million when they’re done and I tell people that’s the equivalent that equals the population of the state I’m from the great state of Ohio seventh largest state that’s the pace we’re on that’s how big this problem is then finally what’s the solution the solution

Is to go back to the policies that worked the solution is our legislation or the solution is simply I think one sentence no money can be used to process or release into the country any new migrants to just say suspend it now which the president can do but if he

Won’t do it we should put that one sentence in must pass legislation that to me is how finally I would just say this I think in the end it boils down to the will of Republicans in the United States Congress are we going to force that sentence that Solution on a piece

Of legislation to get this done that should be our charge if we don’t then we’re going to have to wait then we’re going to have to wait for the presidential election and hope that President Trump is our is is the new president we we can get back to the

Policies at work it’s that basic in my judgment with that I would yield to the gentleman I think from the home District here Mr gonzale gz showing uh showing up matters uh whether you’re a dog whether you’re a cat whether you’re a member of Congress whether you’re the media showing up

Matters and I want to thank uh the speaker for uh for making this happen I want to thank the speaker team for being season veterans and putting this all together I want to thank my own team this is our 24 21st uh border codell and I want to

Thank our our our team for uh for working together with the speaker office to put this together I want to thank the members that have all you know travel to get here two days after the holidays we could all be doing different things but we are united in making sure House

Republicans uh top priority is securing this border and that shows that shows by us being here and oh by the way two weeks ago there were 12,000 people coming over illegally under that bridge to right down the street there was thousands of people in the Firefly facility that we visited earlier today

That has a max capacity of 1,000 people there were 6,000 people there were 4,000 people that were getting released we were at the brink of massive uh Catch and Release and when that happens our communities get turned upside down and it’s it may start here in Eagle Pass but

Then it it it quickly uh reaches San Antonio and then it quickly reaches all over the country well guess what today that stopped now it may have to do with the the fact that the speaker in 60 Plus members showed up but it stopped and the biggest part is

1,400 border patrol agents today are not processing migrants that have come come into our country illegally they are out into the field doing their damn job and that’s what I’d argue we are are we are fighting for the hardest we want border patrol agents to get back to doing their

Job how do we fix this we end Catch and Release how do we fix this we Deport support people that are here illegally by the thousands not by the dozens and then and then if you stop talking for one second and you just listen like we

Did today if you hear from the ranchers if you hear from the sheriffs if you hear from the judges the Mayors the people that live here every day they will tell you the same thing and the Nexus is this you want to get the root

Of the issue the root of the issue is the cartels the cartels turn it on and they turn it off and today is a prime example of that so I have pushed it is long time for us to label cartels as terrorist [Applause] organizations I I will I will end with

This once again showing up matters I’m grateful for the people that have shown up I believe now is the time to to make sure America is safe and we do that by taking a down payment on border of security in 24 with with this team and

We come back for the rest when we win back to White House in 25 with that I’ll turn over I’ll turn it over to my good friend and colleague from Texas Beth vany thank you Tony I appreciate all the work that you have done over the last

Two three years that you have been in Congress you have really taken this this issue you have shown that you care you’ve come down here with Solutions I want to thank the speaker and his team for recognizing this is a priority this is a priority in our country this is a

Priority for cities and states all across our country and I come here not only as a Texas representative but also as a former Texas Mayor that took on this issue head on we worked and we partnered with immigrations and Customs Enforcement we had more criminal illegal aliens Deport uh deported from my city

During the time that I was mayor than any other city in the country per capita and what we found was we had decreased crime almost overnight we became the fifth safest city in the country because we actually followed and enforced our laws we were criticized by Sanctuary

Cities across the country who are now starting to feel what happens when you have illegal immigrants come into your into your city you can’t handle the resources you don’t have it whether or not it’s housing School infrastructure health care they’re finally hearing it they’re finally seeing it and they’re

Finally speaking out about it we had an opportunity today to talk to several local elected officials to several sheriffs what they told us is we are not dealing with an immigration Pro problem we are dealing with a sex trade problem we are dealing with a cartel issue this

Is where your focus needs to be when you have women who are brought into this country who are being treated as slaves who are still in in inh in Holden emboldened by Cartel members that takes 13 to 18 years potentially to be able to work off their debt that is what we are

Seeing under a Biden Administration you have had a 100,000 children come into this country and they’ve lost we have absolutely no idea where they are how is this possible and how under our governance is this happening I will tell you another thing that they were very

Clear about was we implore you and this is a quote hold the line you have the ability through your your power of the purse to force this Administration to do its job it’s sad that you have to do that but that is exactly the position that we find ourselves in Hold the Line

None of us want to shut down the government but we all recognize the fact that every single penny that we are giving to Homeland Security at this point that is not being used to secure our border that is not being used to increase our national security but is

Doing the exact opposite is weak in it and is forcing more and more people quickly more efficiently into our country illegally is hurting our national security hurting our best interest in killing our economy and local and local governments when you’ve had over a 100,000 people that have been

Killed as a result of fentanyl more than any other terrorist attack on our country this is a time to take steps this is a time to to hold the line and we in Congress we have a we have a bill hr2 and I could not agree anymore strongly with representative

Godalas that we do have to Target their cartels but we have a job to do the American people are absolutely sick of the policies that they’ve seen under Biden Administration and we will hold the line and we will fight to make sure hr2 is passed as well as other border

Security measures that will support our Customs and Border Patrol and help secure our nation thank you and with that I want to introduce Juan great fate of [Applause] Arizona thank you thank you all for being here I want to to thank the speaker for his leadership on this issue

I wanted to thank my colleagues for coming to the southern border and seeing for themselves what we’ve been talking about for so long and of course thank my good friend Tony Gonzalez for hosting us here in this District as he continues this fight uh against uh uh the Border

Crisis that we’re seeing I’m an immigrant came to this country when I was 11 years old became a US citizen in 2006 as an adult in my 20s then I was elected to the United States Congress 16 years later no country in the world would give you that opportunity no country in the

World only America would ever give you that opportunity so I believe in the opportunity this country has I believe in the generosity of our nation I believe in the American dream that I’m living but this is not it that’s not it with this crisis that Joe Biden and Alejandra mayorcas have created nobody

Wins nobody WIS except the cartels there’s the ones deciding who gets across and who doesn’t they’re the ones trafficking people in drugs they’re the ones terrorizing their own citizens they’re the ones that have no regard for human life the men and women that we met with today fighting on the front lines for

Our safety are doing so with very little to no support from this Administration trying to enforce policies that are at best outdated at worst designed to fail because they’re not working and the right ones are not being enforced you’ve heard here today we’ve been saying this

For years that every state has become a border state in my own state in Arizona in the Tucson sector we saw record-breaking numbers in December the trend is in the wrong direction this Administration has no answers and no will to tackle this issue this is not a political matter

This is a matter of security and sovereignty and I see some Spanish stations here so I’m going to address you in Spanish as well it’s important to know that as an immigrant myself and I can say that this situation is like with many other families that it took us over a decade

To earn our citizenship and what the bid Administration has done they’ve diluted the effort the focus and the sacrifice of so many families that have paid the ultimate price of leaving their country to come here and go through a long rigorous process to become US citizens

To be able to take that oath of citizenship like I did in 2006 and this Administration with their actions has made a fool out of that process and it’s been in the face of so many that have gone through the entire process to one day have the honor of

Becoming United States citizens this message transcends culture this message transcends language this is an American issue that we must solve from every perspective that you see reflected here behind us our GOP colleagues get it our Speaker gets it and we will solve this issue and the president needs to step up

And do his part along with Alejandra mayorcas thank you so much Mr Speaker I want to thank my uh colleagues and Friends friends again for being here and and sharing you that Insight we’ll take a few questions if you have we’re not going to do show we’re

Not in a classroom we’re not doing show hands well here’s the here’s the deal on the on the shutdown we we are working hard to uh get the Appropriations bills done and the resolve that of this group that you’ve seen with our votes and in carrying over and crushing the Christmas

Omnibus fever as we did with our laded approach in the two-step CR we have until mid January you have until early February to get the approach bills done we have been working in Earnest and in good faith with the Senate and the White House virtually every day through the

Holiday trying to come to an agreement negotiations are still ongoing it’s drug on way too long but the sooner we get that agreement the sooner we’ll be able to get the Appropriations bills done and let me tell you what our top two priorities are right now in summary we

Want to get the Border closed and secured first and we want to make sure that we reduce non defense discretionary spending that is an important objective you know why because we crossed the threshold of $34 trillion in debt $34 trillion today it’s a landmark that is unimaginable would have been

Unimaginable to previous generations and here we are and so we have a responsibility here of fiscal stewardship and fiscal sanity and that’s the priority that you’re going to see us pursue so too early to prejudge any of that but I’ll tell you we’re resolved on those priorities Mr Speaker do you do

You have on these negotiations with the Senate what is your view of them right now and are they going as far as you need them to go to with regard to border security yes listen the the Senate has been uh negotiating I guess among members there and and potentially with

The White House I suppose we our position is very clear and we have made that uh clear again for seven months hr2 is the necessary ingredient why because it has Provisions that fix each of these problems and these things work together for example you could couldn’t just reform the broken Asylum process and

Allow this parole system to remain broken it would be a giant loophole that would not solve the issue you can’t just build the the wall without ending Catch and Release without restoring remain in Mexico these are the the policies and the provisions that again had stemmed the flow in the previous administration

We know what works it’s not rocket science and that is why we have said we are resolved for those Provisions that’s what’s necessary to fix the problem it’s not just House Republicans opinion it’s based upon the informed opinions of the people here on the ground and that is

What they have told us and they have reiterated this over and over and over desperately they ask us to help them solve this problem not just for South Texas but for the entire country and that’s why you see representatives from all across America here to say in one

Voice that we have to do this for the people and the White House has shown an unwillingness to do it in fact as we noted they’ve done exactly the opposite and it’s shameful and inexcusable yes mayam under ofs I can tell you it’s a very complicated complex issue just finding

Those people you heard representative van Dy say earlier tragically nearly 100,000 undocumented uh uh children who were unaccompanied who came across the border unaccompanied miners have been lost into the system the the the Administration has lost track of these children after they’ve been released the these people are giving a notice to

Return for an immigration hearing sometimes it’s four years into the future they don’t show up a very tiny percentage show up so the the first problem would be even identifying all these people the point is the longer we wait the longer we delay the closure and securing of this border the greater the

Crisis and the problem we don’t have a specific prescription uh yet that we’re proposing because we haven’t gotten to that point but I do believe in large measure because of this issue I do think that we’re going to have a change in the white house I think we’re going to have

A Republican president I think we’re going to win the Senate and we’re going to expand the majority in the house as [Applause] well FAL imig absolutely listen we have applauded Governor Abbott and all the brave Law Enforcement Officers here on the border in Texas they’re doing their dead Lev

Best to protect their citizens and that’s his number one job the federal government the White House the administration refuses to do it so if you’re the governor of Texas or a border state or any Governor you have the responsibility the right the Constitutional authority to do the right

Thing in and secure your people so we have applauded him we stand with him in that resolve and any other governor who’s willing to draw the line and take that measure and remember everything they try to do the White House has gone to court to stop everything they’re

Trying to do to protect Texans the the White House is going to take them to court and and have it undone it’s it’s Madness is the only word that we can think of to describe this and we hope it treeson I don’t know it comes to an end

Soon and we’re here to make sure that happens thank you all for being here God bless you thank you thanks buddy app Man App what what T spee

Republicans travel to Eagle Pass, Texas, where migrants are arriving at the US-Mexico border to seek asylum. Speaker Mike Johnson, congressman Tony Gonzales, chairman Mark Green and chairman Jim Jordan will be among a group of 60 House Republicans