(NewsNation) — House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., along with 60 other members of Congress, is set to visit the border Wednesday for an on-the-ground assessment of the crisis.
Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., will be joining Johnson.
“This is my third trip to the border. I’m proud to join with the speaker because the administration has totally failed America at the border, making us less safe and secure,” LaLota said in an interview on “The Hill.”
LaLota, a member of the Homeland Security Committee, emphasized the need to understand the local impact and to engage with border agents and community leaders to inform future legislation.
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.
Negotiations between House Republicans and the Senate are underway, tied to various international aid packages. LaLota stressed the urgency of securing the border, citing a 67% disapproval rating for President Joe Biden’s handling of the situation.
Addressing concerns about potential compromises falling short of House principles, LaLota highlighted the importance of common-sense measures, such as the “remain in Mexico” provision.
Drawing parallels to a State of the Union address by former President Bill Clinton, he emphasized the unfairness of allowing illegal border crossings to impact American workers and those already in the immigration line.
Shifting the focus to the busing of migrants to New York City, LaLota criticized Mayor Eric Adams’ sanctuary city policies, attributing the influx to such regulations preventing federal coordination with local law enforcement for immigration enforcement. He called for the repeal of sanctuary policies, arguing they act as a magnet for migrants.
Ron Vitiello, former chief of U.S. Border Patrol during the Trump administration and a GOP candidate for the Senate in Virginia, expressed grave concern over the escalating crisis at the border in an interview on “NewsNation Now.”
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The former ICE acting director characterized the situation as “really bad” and emphasized the continuous deterioration since the beginning of the current presidency.
“This administration refuses to take any steps to make this situation better,” he said.
Providing context, Vitiello compared the recent numbers to the first full year of the Donald Trump presidency in 2017, stating that there were only 310,000 encounters by Border Patrol in the entire fiscal year.
He stressed that the current situation is orders of magnitude worse than any other time in the history of the border, with no apparent end in sight. Vitiello criticized the Biden administration for refusing to take effective steps to address the crisis, highlighting the toll on individuals in the pipeline, border communities, and the nation.
Entin raised concerns about the humanitarian crisis faced by migrants, to which Vitiello acknowledged the severity. However, he criticized the administration’s reliance on an app designed for individuals to set up parole hearings, describing it as inadequate for handling the large numbers of unaccompanied children and families currently crossing the border.
He argued that putting parole procedures on an app could inadvertently encourage more people to enter the pipeline, providing opportunities for smugglers and cartels.
NewsNation’s Ali Bradley contributed to this report.
