U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker returned to the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday to meet with local officials in Texas about the number of migrants trying to enter the country illegally.
A group of members of the Republican Study Committee -- the largest conservative caucus in Congress -- visited Rep. Tony Gonzalesâs district in Eagle Pass, Texas, for a roundtable discussion with local law enforcement and elected officials who made the case for tough immigration policies, some of which were loosened after President Joe Biden took office in January.
The U.S.-Mexico border has seen a 71% uptick in migrant crossings since February, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data released Thursday. Border patrol agents have had 569,800 encounters with migrants -- a 24% increase from the total number of encounters the agency had in all of 2020.