Lawmakers head to Texas to expose dangers of Biden’s ‘open borders’ agenda, fentanyl crisis

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EXCLUSIVE: Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold field hearings in McAllen, Texas, next week to investigate the Biden administration's "public health crisis" fueled by fentanyl that is being trafficked through the southern border.

Fox News Digital has learned that Chairwoman Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., will host members of her committee at two locations in Texas as she works to focus attention on the administration's "open border agenda."

A committee aide said the announcement of these hearings, as President Biden gets set to deliver his second State of the Union address Tuesday night, was timed to contrast the real state of the nation with Biden's assessment. The president is expected to tout declining inflation and gas prices and his signature infrastructure bill during remarks.

"Folks, if we are to advance liberty and justice, we need to secure our border and fix the immigration system," Biden said during last year's national address. But McMorris Rodgers says things have gone backward since then.

4 MILLION BORDER ENCOUNTERS SINCE KAMALA HARRIS ASSIGNED TO ADDRESS 'ROOT CAUSE' OF PROBLEM

Fox News Digital has learned that Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., will host members of her committee at two locations in Texas as she works to focus attention on the Biden administration's "open border agenda." (Zach Gibson / Getty Images / File)

"America is less secure today because of President Joe Biden’s open border agenda and war on American energy," McMorris Rodgers told Fox News Digital. "That is the state of our union. The Energy and Commerce Committee will be on the ground in Texas next week to expose this reality."

KAMALA HARRIS TO AVOID THE US-MEXICO BORDER DURING VISIT TO ARIZONA

"In McAllen, Texas, we will host a field hearing to make the case why we must secure the border, stop fentanyl and its analogues, and save lives. Then we will travel to Midland, Texas, to hear from community leaders on how we can make people’s lives better by expanding – not transitioning or shutting down – our energy production," she said.

Border Patrol agents apprehend illegal immigrants shortly after they crossed the border from Mexico into the United States, March 26, 2018, in the Rio Grande Valley Sector near McAllen, Texas. (Loren Elliott / AFP via Getty Images)

The aide said the hearings will build on an effort to pass the HALT Fentanyl Act, which the Biden administration is not backing. The bill would ensure law enforcement have the tools to keep fentanyl off streets.

House Republicans have focused on the border crisis as a top priority to address in the new Congress.

The House Judiciary Committee wasted no time in its effort to put the pressure on the Biden administration for the ongoing border crisis, tackling the matter in its first hearing of the 118th Congress last week.

The House Oversight Committee is holding a hearing on Tuesday before Biden's State of the Union to learn about the situation on the ground at the southern border, directly from chief patrol agents who deal with the crisis every day.

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A Border Patrol agent on horseback monitors the area near where the U.S.-Mexico border fence meets the Pacific Ocean on Nov. 7, 2021. (Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images)

Vice President Kamala Harris announced Monday that $4.2 billion in funds from private companies would be directed to Central America to promote job creation, clean energy, gender equity and other goals. The announcement is part of Harris’ effort to boost economic growth in the region to reduce the incentives to leave there for America, but critics said the plan does nothing to address the short-term crisis at the border.

Fox News' Aishah Hasnie contributed to this report.