Sen. Britt making 3rd border visit in less than 2 months in office

Sen. Britt making 3rd border visit in less than 2 months in office

For the third time in less than two months after taking office, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama is making a trip to the Mexican border regarding illegal immigration.

The third visit to the border will be to a third different location. Britt on Thursday arrived at the Rio Grande Valley sector with a group of Republican Senate colleagues that include John Cornyn of Texas. A week after taking the oath of office in January, Britt traveled to the Del Rio sector in Texas. Last month, she visited the San Diego sector in California.

Related: Britt tried to discourage pregnant migrant from crossing river during ‘gut-wrenching’ border visit

According to the announcement from Britt’s office, the senators will take part in both night and daytime tours of the border with law enforcement on land and water, visit the Border Patrol’s Ursula Central Processing Center and meet with local law enforcement and landowners to discuss the impact of the border policies on local communities. The senators will also receive briefings on border safety from the National Border Patrol Council, Customs and Border Protection, the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas’ “border czar” Mike Banks.

“There is an unprecedented national security and humanitarian crisis at our southern border,” Britt said in a statement. “Acknowledging there is a problem is the first step to solving it, but unfortunately President Biden won’t even do that. I am grateful to have this opportunity to see the problem in the Rio Grande Valley firsthand, ask tough questions, listen, and learn – so we can fight for the best possible solutions in the Senate. The number of Americans dying from fentanyl poisoning is equivalent to a commercial airplane going down in our country every single day. Just this week, CBP announced it busted a passenger vehicle that was carrying enough fentanyl to kill every single Alabamian 10 times over. It’s past time for action.”

The CBP announced Monday that nearly 54 pounds of fentanyl pills were recovered at the Andrade Point of Entry in southeast California in a truck driven by a woman who is a U.S. citizen seeking entry into the country. Another 32 pounds of methamphetamine was also recovered from the truck and the street value of the drugs approached $1 million, according to the CBP, making it the largest seizure of drugs at the port.

Britt last month sponsored three bills aimed at curtailing illegal immigration at the border, including allocating funds to complete a border wall long advocated by former President Donald Trump.

The other Alabama newcomer in Congress, Rep. Dale Strong, R-Monrovia, visited the border in Texas in February.