50th District Rep. Darrell Issa Tours Unfinished Border Wall

TEMECULA, CA — Temecula Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA), Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA), and Customs and Border Patrol agents at the southern border near San Diego toured the ongoing humanitarian and national security crisis that has seen the record-setting influx of migrants over the last 18 months.

Border patrol agents serving as National Border Patrol Council officers led the officials on their journey.

The representatives saw unfinished portions of the southern border wall between Tijuana and San Diego and could converse with Mexican residents on the other side of the wall.

The tour took place the same day the Biden Administration terminated the Remain in Mexico Policy, which required illegal immigrants awaiting asylum claims in the U.S. to stay in Mexico until their cases are adjudicated, according to reports." The policy was designed to decrease the incentive for illegal crossings. It significantly alleviated the strain on already overwhelmed border patrol agents under the vast and ongoing influx of migrants," Steel's office reported in a recent news release.

Both Representatives expressed concern at the end of Title 42. Rep. Steel called the situation at the southern border "a shocking and deeply troubling humanitarian and national safety crisis."

"Not only are sections of our border wide open to anyone who wants to cross - whether they are legitimate asylum seekers, violent drug cartels, human traffickers, or terrorists - but our border patrol faces a devastating lack of support from Washington, D.C. from halting construction of the border wall to terminating Title 42 and Remain in Mexico, this Administration's policies have directly contributed to the suffering occurring on our southern border," Steel said in a recent news release. "The President must immediately restore operational control, commit to providing our CBP agents with the resources they need to do their jobs, and complete the process of physically securing our border."

As they toured the wall, the delegation reported encountering a Russian man who had just crossed into the United States from Mexico through an unfinished portion of the border fence.

The man claimed political asylum and was taken into custody by CBP for processing.

Rep. Issa spoke about his feelings regarding the border in a previous Facebook post.

"We’ve said from day one: Biden’s open borders are not only dangerous, but also deadly," he wrote. "He has no excuse not to reverse course and begin to repair what he has broken."