GOP Texas lawmakers to tour border as migrant numbers surge

close

Video

Federal agents apprehending large groups of migrants crossing the US-Mexico border

Florida congressman Carlos Gimenez discusses border visit and migrant surge on 'Your World'

A group of Texas Republican lawmakers will travel to the border next week to assess the growing crisis at the border, amid an increasing surge of migrants creating an urgent challenge for the Biden administration

Reps. Jodey Arrington and Brian Babin will lead more than a dozen Texas House lawmakers on the three-day trip that will include stops in McAllen, Laredo and Carrizo Springs. Carrizo Springs is the site of a recently opened child migrant center, one of a number of moves the Biden administration has taken to deal with a surge in numbers.

CRUZ, CORNYN TO LEAD SENATE DELEGATION TO BORDER, AS GOP RAMPS UP PRESSURE ON BIDEN OVER CRISIS

The lawmakers will conduct a land, sea and air trip that will see lawmakers view the border from the coast of South Padre Island, a tour of the border wall and a helicopter tour of the land border.

The announcement comes after Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn announced they will lead a Senate delegation to the border next week.

 Republicans are ramping up the pressure on the Biden administration for what they say is a crisis fueled by the administration's own immigration policies.

The Biden administration has rolled back a number of Trump-era policies that it says are cruel, and has also proposed a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. Opponents say it is encouraging migrants to try to get in to the U.S.

Video

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered more than 100,000 migrants in February, and numbers of unaccompanied children in custody have tripled.

PSAKI ACKNOWLEDGES 'BIG PROBLEM' AT BORDER, BLAMES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION 

The administration has been increasing facility space, both by opening more facilities and removing COVID-19 capacity restrictions.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday said the situation was "difficult" as he warned that the U.S. was on track to encounter more migrants than in the last 20 years.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"The situation at the southwest border is difficult," Mayorkas said in a lengthy statement. "We are working around the clock to manage it and we will continue to do so. That is our job. We are making progress and we are executing on our plan. It will take time and we will not waver in our commitment to succeed."