Washinton D. C. – Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) toured the southern border on March 2nd and 3rd and was joined by U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) and a group of Senate colleagues. The tour was of the Rio Grande Valley Sector to survey the ongoing crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The senators participated in both night and daytime tours of the border with law enforcement on land and water, visited the Border Patrol’s Ursula Central Processing Center, and met with local law enforcement and landowners to discuss the impact of the Biden Administration’s border policies on local communities. Additionally, the senators received briefings from the National Border Patrol Council, Customs and Border Protection, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and Texas’ new border czar to discuss federal and state efforts to secure our nation’s southern border.
The senators then held a joint press conference on Friday at Anzalduas Park in Mission, Texas. The group also included U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb).
Senator Britt is the ranking member of the Homeland Security subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. In her first two months in office, Senator Britt has visited the Del Rio Sector of the border in Texas and the San Diego Sector of the border in California.
“There is an unprecedented national security and humanitarian crisis at our southern border,” said Senator Katie Britt. “Acknowledging there is a problem is the first step to solving it, but unfortunately President Biden won’t even do that. I am grateful to have this opportunity to see the problem in the Rio Grande Valley firsthand, ask tough questions, listen, and learn – so we can fight for the best possible solutions in the Senate. The number of Americans dying from fentanyl poisoning is equivalent to a commercial airplane going down in our country every single day. Just this week, CBP announced it busted a passenger vehicle that was carrying enough fentanyl to kill every single Alabamian 10 times over. It’s past time for action.”
Per the Senator’s press department Senator Britt has made border security and the safety of American children, families, and communities a top focus during her first eight weeks in office. She introduced a robust package of four pieces of legislation and has already cosponsored an additional six bills related to the topic, including Senator Marsha Blackburn’s (R-Tenn.) Stop Taxpayer Funding of Traffickers Act; Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) Immigration Parole Reform Act of 2023 and Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act; Senator Ted Budd’s (R-N.C.) Build the Wall Now Act; and Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) No Coyote Cash Act and Felony Murder for Deadly Fentanyl Distribution Act.
