Speaker McCarthy to lead House delegation to US-Mexico border | Fox News

2023-02-15 17:25:31 By : Ms. Emma Jia

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Fox News contributor Andy McCarthy discusses President Biden's comments downplaying classified documents as 'stray papers.'

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will lead a House delegation to the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday for the first time since taking up the gavel.

McCarthy will head to the border area of Cochise County, Arizona with four other members of Congress, including Republican Reps. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona; Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon; Jen Kiggans of Virginia, and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin.

McCarthy's office says he and the four freshman members of Congress will take an aerial tour of the area with agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The visit will be McCarthy's first since gaining the speakership in January, though he led several such trips during his time as Republican Leader.

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Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will lead a House delegation to the U.S.-Mexico border this week. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will lead four freshman Republican members of Congress on a border tour with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. (Nick Ut/Getty Images)

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The visit comes as Republicans are lambasting President Biden's handling of the border crisis. Biden has seen monthly border encounters rise from 100,000 in February 2021 to over 250,000 in December 2022. CBP recorded more than 230,000 border encounters for the first time in October 2023, and each month since has surpassed that number.

That stat does not include the number of known "gotaways," or migrants who were detected by CBP authorities but not apprehended. Since Biden entered office in January 2021, border crossings have exploded, and at least 1.2 million migrants successfully evaded authorities.

Biden visited the border for the first time in his presidency in early January, but many border agents argued it was too little, too late. The border crisis has drawn even staunch Democrats like New York City Mayor Eric Adams to criticize Biden's handling of the issue.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams has criticized President Biden's White House for failing to support cities shuddering under the influx of illegal migrants. (Screenshot/MSNBC/MorningJoe)

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CBP officials saw an estimated 718,000 border encounters in the first 100 days of fiscal year 2023, which began Oct. 1.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

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This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2023 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.