House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., made an impromptu trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday.
It came hours after six Democrats joined all House Republicans to pass a resolution condemning Vice President Kamala Harris’ handling of the migrant crisis as the Biden administration’s border czar.
“We’ve had a very interesting tour here at the San Diego sector. This has become, in many ways, the epicenter of the Biden-Harris border catastrophe,” Johnson said. “Now we’re very concerned in Congress that this illegal immigrant invasion is threatening even the integrity of our elections.”
Johnson made the trip alongside Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and members of the National Border Patrol Council.
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Speaker Mike Johnson took an impromptu border trip hours after the House passed a resolution condemning Vice President Kamala Harris on the issue. (Getty Images)
“The president’s Executive Order last month is being touted as a success, because the number of encounters by the Border Patrol decreased, and that’s right, fewer people are being encountered by the Border Patrol between the ports of entry,” said Jon Anfinsen, a top union official.
“But that’s not the whole story, because instead of crossing illegally between the ports, asylum seekers, many of whom are only seeking to abuse the system, are now primarily showing up at ports of entry and airports – so much so that customs officers in June encountered more asylum seekers than the Border Patrol did.”
As a result, Anfinsen said, customs officers are now being overwhelmed by migrant processing duties.
The White House pushed back on his claims by pointing Fox News Digital to a recent release by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that said Biden’s executive order on illegal immigration was “helping reduce the number of encounters at our Southwest Border by 55%” and that the number of encounters over a seven-day average period ”has decreased to below 1,800 encounters per day.”
The White House also pointed to data that showed the number of migrant encounters at ports of entry without the CBP One app dropped 30% from May to June, the first full month Biden’s order was in effect.
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Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, accompanied Johnson on the border trip. (Photographer: Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Throughout the roughly 20-minute press conference, Johnson referred to the crisis at the southern border as the work of the “Biden-Harris administration” in an apparent bid to tie the longstanding issue to the vice president, who recently took over for Biden as the Democrats’ presumptive 2024 nominee.
He also touted the House’s recently passed Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act), which would add a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the voter registration process.
That bill, passed earlier this month with the support of five House Democrats and all Republicans, has not been taken up by the Democrat-majority Senate.
“The problem is right now that under existing federal law, the states are prohibited from confirming and requesting proof of citizenship,” Johnson said.
“So when all the illegals come across the border, and they’re turned over to the NGOs after they’re processed by customs and border control, and they’re shipped out around the country by planes, trains and automobiles – funded by American taxpayers. By the way, when they go to their local community, the administration officials are encouraging them to go to their local welfare office, for example, and sign up for public benefits.”
Migrants walk along the highway through Suchiate, Chiapas state in southern Mexico, Sunday, July 21, 2024, during their journey north toward the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)
He said that “motor voter” registration laws were also contributing to alleged instances of illegal immigrants signing up to vote.
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“If someone goes to the local office to sign up for public benefits, they’re also handed a short form that says, ‘Do you want to register to vote?’ All you have to do to participate in the elections is check a little box and say, ‘I’m a U.S. citizen, and yes, register me to vote.’ There’s no proof required, and we think that’s outrageous,” Johnson said.
Democrats, largely opposed to the GOP bill, have pointed out that it’s already illegal to vote in federal elections without being a U.S. citizen.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital in response to Johnson, “The American people see through Speaker Johnson’s stunts, which amounts to House Republicans wasting time on a redundant proposal as they continue to choose fentanyl traffickers over the Border Patrol by delaying the toughest bipartisan border security deal in modern history.”
“Our executive actions resulted in lower unauthorized crossings than at the end of the Trump Administration, and congressional Republicans should stop choosing drug cartels and human smugglers over our national security,” Bates said.
Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from the Fox News Digital immigration hub.