MCALLEN, Texas — A group of Republicans and Democrats stopped by the Texas-Mexico border Wednesday as part of a bipartisan effort to address a recent influx of people crossing the border.
U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and U.S. Representatives Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) and Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23) were part of the delegation in McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley.
The members of Congress toured the Border Patrol’s Donna Temporary Processing Center, as well as other sites, and met with local elected officials, stakeholders and law enforcement officials.
"This last year has been a tough year for many people," Sen. Cornyn said. "If you have not yet been vaccinated, I encourage you to... But we want our border to be back open again. We want to do this responsibly."
He said they are asking the Biden administration to safely open the border.
When asked about future of Title 42 (removals by the U.S. government of people who have recently been in a country where a communicable disease was present), Cornyn said a transition plan would be absolutely necessary.
"No, we are not ready for the end of Title 42," he said. "There needs to be some consequences."
Rep. Gonzales agreed.
"We have to talk about that now, not afterwards when it's too late," Gonzales said.
On the subject of tracking children who have crossed the border, Gonzales said, "We can't lose track of these children."
This comes after the members of Congress introduced the Bipartisan Border Solutions Act, which is supported by members of both parties. The bill deals with a number of issues, including protecting migrant children, dealing with influxes of migrants, measures to reduce impact on local communities and ensuring migrants are treated fairly and humanely. Click here to read more about the bill.