House Speaker Paul Ryan took his first-ever tour of the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday as Congressional Republicans are considering how to pay for President Trump‘s promised wall to stop undocumented immigration.
Ryan, House Homeland Security chair Michael McCaul and several other GOP members toured the Rio Grande river on horseback and via air, NBC News reported.
Ryan said in a statement after his tour: “When you see with your own eyes the many challenges facing our law enforcement professionals along the border, it gives you even greater respect for the work that they do day-in and day-out.”
“But more tools and more support are needed for them to do their jobs effectively,” he added. “Congress is committed to securing the border and enforcing our laws, and together with the Trump administration, we will get this done.”
The Wisconsin Republican also visited the U.S. Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas, and made a stop at the central processing center for migrants, according to TheMonitor.com, which serves the Rio Grande valley.
Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said in a statement ahead of the trip that it was to “examine the challenges of securing our border and learn more about the issues facing border communities.”
Ryan’s visit comes one day after Homeland Security officials unveiled a sweeping new plan to crack down on immigration that puts the vast majority of the U.S.’s 11 million undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation.
“Those people who are in this country and pose a threat to our public safety, or have committed a crime, will be the first to go,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday. “And we will be aggressively making sure that occurs. That is what the priority is.”
- Comment
