EL PASO, Texas – U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, toured an area Friday near the Monument Three border wall section, the U.S. Border Patrol Paso del Norte processing station.
He also received an operational brief from Gloria Chavez, Chief Patrol Agent, USBP El Paso Sector and Command Staff. Agent Chavez highlighted that currently there is a struggle to retain agents due to the overwhelming, record-breaking number of migrants and drugs crossing into the United States across the border.
Portman began his visit to the border yesterday by participating in a night operations brief and riding along with Border Patrol agents.
The senator shared these thoughts:
“I appreciated the thorough operational brief at El Paso Sector Headquarters from Chief Patrol Agent Chavez, as well as being able to see the Paso del Norte migrant processing station, and an area near the Monument Three border wall section.
“It is clear that the Biden administration’s dismantling of the previous administration’s policies with no consideration of the ramifications has incentivized migration, and increased Border Patrol manpower is critical. The Paso del Norte processing facility is seeing an increase in migrants of 150 to 200 percent which is stretching manpower and resources thin.
“Near the Monument Three border section, I was shocked by the difference between the new wall sections and temporary wall sections left unfinished due to the Biden administration’s executive order.
“The crisis at our southern border is clear, and I urge the Biden administration to provide Border Patrol with the resources they need while stepping up efforts to collaborate with international partners – including the governments in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador – to address this challenge, discourage migration, and provide safer alternatives to making the dangerous journey north.”
