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Rep. Doug Collins says Democratic House staffers are a 'distraction' at the border

By Joshua Nelson Fox News
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Democrats were becoming a distraction at the border, Rep. Collins says after DHS bars visit Video

Democrats were becoming a distraction at the border, Rep. Collins says after DHS bars visit

Republican Rep. Doug Collins defends the Department of Homeland Security decision barring Democratic House staffers from visiting Customs and Border Protection facilities at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., defended the Department of Homeland Security's decision to bar Democratic House staffers from visiting Customs and Border Protection facilities at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Collins told “Fox & Friends” on Thursday that the Democratic House staffers are “a distraction to what’s going on down there.”

The DHS alleged that, during their trip last week, House Oversight Committee staff were “disruptive” and refused to follow instructions, Fox News has learned.

DHS BARS DEM STAFFERS FROM VISITING BORDER FACILITIES AFTER 'RUDE' AND 'DISRUPTIVE' BEHAVIOR

Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., had sent his staff to visit border facilities for “oversight inspections” last week and planned to send staff again to view Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and CBP centers.

But sources told Fox News that DHS has revoked access to CBP facilities for the upcoming visit, citing staff behavior that “interfered” with law enforcement operations — including refusing to leave one site after their scheduled window, skipping some tours and being "rude" to officers.

Meanwhile, ICE visits will still be allowed this week but with a two-hour time limit. One of those visits took place on Tuesday.

“We need to have oversight down there,” Collins said.

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He went on to say, “But if you go down there to interrupt what is actually happening; when you become the distraction, when you become the problem, then that’s over the line and I think they took the steps at this point to say, 'We’re not going to have this, we have a job to do, you’re here to observe the job, ask proper questions, do what you need to do, but also don’t try to interfere with what’s going on here, either.'”

Politics Reporter Brooke Singman contributed to this report.