All Democrats to boycott Biden border crisis congressional hearing in Texas
Anna Giaritelli
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Democrats will boycott a congressional trip to the U.S.-Mexico border this week on the basis that it was a political move by Republicans to overstate the border issue.
The House Homeland Security Committee’s 15 Democratic members will skip traveling to South Texas and will not be attending a two-panel hearing led by Republican leadership Wednesday morning.
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“After careful consideration, Committee Democrats have decided not to participate in the Republicans’ field hearing this week,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Unfortunately, it has become clear that Republicans planned to politicize this event from the start, breaking with the committee’s proud history of bipartisanship. Instead of a fact-finding mission to develop better border security and immigration policies, Republicans are traveling to the border to attack the administration and try to score political points with their extreme rhetoric – despite having voted against the resources border personnel need.”
Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) announced last week that the committee would hold a hearing in the Rio Grande Valley and hear from the top U.S. Border Patrol official, among other witnesses.
Green criticized Democrats for inviting a witness of their choice, then abandoning that witness with their refusal to attend the hearing. That person, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, is still slated to attend the hearing.
“It’s deeply disappointing that the minority members of the committee have chosen to bail on this week’s full committee field hearing in Texas, only after they invited and confirmed a minority witness for one of the panels,” Green said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner.
The boycott follows the example of Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, who refused to travel down to the southern border for a hearing in late February.
“The only message their absence sends is that they are uninterested in coming to the table to have a conversation about the devastation that this border crisis is having on Americans and their communities across the country,” Green said. “We will continue to encourage our Democrat colleagues to get out of the D.C. echo chamber and meet Americans where they are to discuss the biggest issues facing them.”
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Thompson further defended Democrats and said members of his party were regularly visiting the border and were up to speed on the issue.
Other experts slated to testify include the Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe, National Border Patrol Council Vice President Chris Cabrera, and U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz.