Federal
law enforcement
officials assigned to the U.S.-Mexico border will descend on Washington hours ahead of the
State of the Union
address to provide lawmakers with a firsthand account of the reality of the
border crisis
.
House Committee on Oversight and Accountability
Chairman
James Comer
(R-KY) is expected to declare the committee’s first investigative hearing on the state of the border. As a fact-finding exercise, actual Border Patrol agents who have worked decades in the field will have a rare opportunity to speak before the public about the unprecedented influx of
immigrants
since President
Joe Biden
took office.
TEXAS COULD BE REIMBURSED BILLIONS FOR BORDER CRISIS COSTS UNDER NEW LEGISLATION
“Today’s hearing is an opportunity to gather facts about the border crisis from career law enforcement officials from the U.S. Border Patrol,” reads a copy of Comer’s opening statement, obtained by the Washington Examiner. “Make no mistake, the state of our border is in crisis.”
Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Gloria Chavez and Tucson Sector Chief John Modlin will appear before the committee on Tuesday morning.
Comer initially set a hearing for Feb. 7 and summoned Border Patrol Sector Chiefs Chavez; Jason Owens of Del Rio,
Texas
; Gregory Bovino of El Centro,
California
; and acting Chief Patrol Agent Patricia McGurk-Daniel of Yuma,
Arizona
.
The Department of Homeland Security
informed
Comer on Jan. 26 that Raul Ortiz, the national chief of the Border Patrol, would be available to testify publicly in the hearing, but the four other agents would only be permitted to lawmakers in a private briefing.
Through negotiations
, the DHS relented and allowed Chavez and another senior official to brief the committee publicly.
The initial dust-up between Comer and the
Biden administration
set the scene for what is expected to be a contentious and heated series of exchanges Tuesday.
“Administration officials continue to say they are creating a ‘safe, orderly, humane’ immigration system. But reality contradicts this propaganda,” a copy of Comer’s opening remarks stated.
The hearing comes one week after the Republican-led
House Judiciary Committee
held its first
hearing
on the border crisis, though no Border Patrol officials appeared before the committee.
And the hearing could come with serious ramifications for the
White House
. House Republicans have threatened to investigate and impeach DHS Secretary
Alejandro Mayorkas
. Two House Republicans have
introduced
separate articles of impeachment since the new session began in early January.
Republicans could uncover new information in the hearing that prompts a move by GOP leadership to fire Mayorkas.
Biden administration officials have maintained over the past month that the border is not in as bad shape as it was previously.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Vice President Kamala Harris
said
in a press conference Monday that 18 months of efforts to bring economic investments into
Central America
had led to a major decline in illegal immigration from that region.
Mayorkas
said
in late January that the Biden administration’s expansion of a restrictionist border policy had led to a significant decline in illegal immigration of
Cubans
, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.
