Sen. Graham to Visit Southern Border with Vice President Mike Pence

Senator Graham announced plans to travel with Vice President Mike Pence this week on a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border. Although the specific federal detention center has not been announced, Senator Graham is eager to see first-hand what the conditions are like in these facilities.

In the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Graham told reporters, ?I haven?t been, I just want to look.?

Unfortunately, this important trip will leave out a group of key players  – Senator Graham?s Democratic colleagues. He called it ?disappointing? that no Democratic Senator has accepted Vice President Pence?s invitation to visit the detention facility together. The Democrats are blocking progress on immigration reform ? plain and simple, while Republican members of Congress are the only ones working with the Administration to solve a decades-long humanitarian crisis.

Despite the lack of bipartisan support for the border visit this week, Senator Graham is determined to solve the problem at the Southern Border by working across the aisle. He?s agreed to delay his proposed bill in order to negotiate with Democrats on the issues because an agreement has to be reached. Our facilities are bursting at the seams, all with people who have been promised endless free giveaways by the Democrats. ?I?m gonna try to meet with people and see if we can get something down. If not, we?ll just mark up our bill and take it to the public and let the public decide if there?s a crisis at the border or not,? Sen. Graham told The State.

Sen. Graham has been an involved player in reforming the immigration system due his concerns about the current asylum laws. ?Word?s out on the street, if you apply for asylum here, you?re just not going to go back.? His proposed Senate bill cracks down on these thousands of asylum claims in an effort to require migrants? asylum application to take place in their own countries or a federal facility in Mexico ? not within the United States. This law would ease the burden on our federal resources and ensure safe and secure conditions for anyone coming across the border who has already been granted asylum legally. Senator Graham is leading the Congressional effort to work with the Administration, ICE, and Border Patrol to effectively fix our broken immigration system. We?re done listening to the Democrats talk about the crisis at the Southern Border while they sit in Washington without action. Senator Graham?s trip this week with the Vice President demonstrates a will to solve the crisis and highlights the need for a bipartisan pledge from the Democrats in Congress that they?ll finally get to work.