A group of Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee are visiting the southern border Friday, a visit that “comes years too late,” according to Rep. Mark Green, the Republican chairman of the committee.
“It’s no coincidence that committee Democrats are choosing to visit the border after President [Donald] Trump cleaned up the mess created by the Biden administration,” said Green, R-Tenn.
The Democrat delegation is visiting the San Diego Border Sector to “conduct oversight” of the Trump administration’s handling of the situation at the southern border, according to Fox News. But the visit is closed to press.
The Daily Signal reached out to Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the ranking member the House Homeland Security Committee, who is leading the border delegation, but did not receive a response.
In a statement ahead of the trip, Green accused Thompson of “repeatedly” calling the committee’s border crisis hearings “a waste of time,” noting that no Democrats attended the committee’s border field hearing in Pharr, Texas, in March of 2023.
Still, Green said he is “grateful Democrats will be drawing attention to the law and order that the Trump administration has and will continue to restore.”
More than 10 million illegal aliens entered the U.S. during the four years of the Biden administration, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
December of 2023 saw the highest number of illegal crossings between ports of entry along the southern border at 249,740. But Illegal alien encounters at the southern border have been trending downward since the end of 2024, falling from 47,322 in December to 29,101 in January, down to 8,347 by February, and reached a record low of 7,181 in March.
“For the last four years, we have encouraged our Democratic Committee members to see firsthand the chaos caused by President Joe Biden and his failed border policies,” said Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., chairman of the Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee.
“I am glad that this weekend they will have the opportunity to see what a secure border looks like, thanks to the hard work of President Trump and his administration,” Guest added.
In addition to record low total encounter numbers at the border, Border Patrol has also seen a drastic decline in the number of children arriving alone at the border since Trump took office. In March, 631 unaccompanied alien children were encountered at the southwest border, down 97% from the record high of 18,716 under the Biden administration in March 2021, a senior Department of Homeland Security official told The Daily Signal.
Additionally, the Trump administration has carried out about 100,00 deportations since Jan. 20.
According to border czar Tom Homan, “President Trump’s leadership continues to break records.”
