House Republicans accuse Biden administration of obscuring migrant crisis

WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders are asking the Biden administration for records involving GOP members’ recent visit to the southwest border, suggesting that officials may have tried to conceal the degree to which the influx of undocumented migrants has overwhelmed border control facilities.

In a three-page letter sent to Department of Homeland Security officials Thursday, the leaders write that the congressional delegation decided to visit the border control station in Eagle Pass, Texas after seeing press reports on Dec. 20 showing that nearly 10,000 migrants were in custody there — more than double the facility's capacity.

House Speaker Mike Johnson's office notified DHS officials that same day that he wanted to lead a congressional delegation to tour the site. Yet when the 60 GOP House members showed up two weeks later, border patrol officials told them there were fewer than 600 people in custody, the letter says.

In a post on the social media site X on Jan. 2, the day before the lawmakers arrived, Johnson wrote that the Biden administration had sent the migrants to “another location in order to keep them out of the camera shots during @HouseGOP’s visit to Eagle Pass.”

Johnson's post included two pictures side by side: One showing a crowd of migrants sitting on grass; the other depicting the same location appearing to be empty.

“Media reports have suggested DHS took these steps to hide the truth from members of Congress,” according to the letter, which was signed by Johnson,R-La., Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn.

The Homeland Security Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Arrests for illegal border crossings