My Trip to the Border 2026
Thanks to President Trump and the work of congressional Republicans, our border is more secure than ever.
I recently led a visit to the Southwest Border alongside Congressman John Rutherford of Florida. We saw firsthand the Trump Administration’s work to secure our border and the operations supported by funding that Republicans in Congress delivered through the Working Family Tax Cuts.
I met with representatives from U.S. Border Patrol at the Southwest Border. I learned more about the need for additional infrastructure investments along the border, and the impact that current inadequate infrastructure has on communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.
We also saw the Air and Marine Operations’ boat interdiction efforts during a recent visit to the Southwest Border. The men and women who operate these vessels work every day to stop cartels from using our waterways to smuggle illegal aliens and narcotics into the country.
While at the border, we were joined by CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott for a tour of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, where we met with San Diego Director of Field Operations Sidney Aki and Otay Mesa Port Director Rosa Hernandez. One of the nation's busiest commercial ports of entry, Otay Mesa screens approximately one million conveyances arriving from Mexico each year.
We also visited the San Ysidro Port of Entry where we saw how Nonintrusive Inspection is being leveraged to identify the smuggling of illicit drugs, weapons, and people within passenger vehicles entering the United States from Mexico. San Ysidro is the largest volume passenger vehicle POE in the U.S., welcoming about 15 million passenger vehicles from Mexico every year. I was able to meet with San Ysidro Port Director, Mariza Marin and San Diego Director of Field Operations, Sidney Aki.
I was able to visit the border wall at Smuggler’s Gulch, a former notorious smuggling route from Mexico into the U.S. prior to the canyon being filled in 2009. The team and I were able to witness the progress CBP has made following these historic investments through the integration of advanced technology and efforts to strengthen our physical barriers.
Thanks to President Trump and the work of congressional Republicans, our border is more secure than ever. We cannot return to the chaos we once knew, when uncontrolled illegal immigration strained public resources and enabled human smugglers and drug traffickers to exploit our borders. We must build on this success by supporting our frontline personnel, strengthening infrastructure, and investing in cutting-edge technology to protect our borders and coastal waters.