(NewsNation) — Dozens of lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had harsh words for the Biden administration after visiting the U.S.-Mexico border Wednesday.
Johnson said at an afternoon news conference in Eagle Pass, Texas that 64 House Republicans, representing 26 states and 1 territory, were at the southern border.
Lawmakers met with local residents, sheriffs, the Texas Department of Public Safety and toured a Customs and Border Protection processing facility.
“One thing is absolutely clear: America is at a breaking point with record levels of illegal immigration,” Johnson said. “Today we got a firsthand look at the damage and the chaos the border catastrophe is causing in all of our communities.”
Rep. Juan Ciscomani, of Arizona, said immigration trends are going in the wrong direction, and the administration has “no answers and no will” to fix the issues.
A group of migrants crossed the river behind the lawmakers as they spoke, among them, a small child.
The largest Republican delegation to visit the southern border comes at a time when congressional talks in Washington, D.C. on a new border deal have stalled, and officials say there are record crossings.
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, told NewsNation it’s important for members of Congress to “show up” on the border.
“What’s happening here in Eagle Pass, it’s happening in Arizona,” Gonzales said. “It’s happening in El Paso, it’s starting to happen in San Diego, in the (Rio Grande Valley). There is no end in sight.”
Officials at the nation’s southern border encountered more than 302,000 migrants in December, the highest monthly total on record, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources confirmed to NewsNation.
The previous high was in September 2023, when authorities recorded 269,735 encounters.
Johnson recently wrote a letter to President Joe Biden urging executive action on border issues and for the administration to reinstate former President Donald Trump’s hardline border policies such as “Remain in Mexico.” At Wednesday’s press conference, Johnson reiterated these requests.
“These are the policies and provisions that had stemmed the flow in the previous administration. We know what works — it’s not rocket science,” Johnson said.
But a White House spokesperson says it’s actually the Republicans who are compromising America’s national security.
“Today’s statements are just House Republicans’ latest admission that as President Biden and both parties in the Senate seek common ground to address the needs of the American people, their conference is instead choosing extreme politics that would subject American families to needless pain,” spokesperson Andrew Bates said.
Kim Anderson contributed to this article.