House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Thursday will lead a congressional delegation on a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border.
It will be McCarthy's first trip to the southern border since becoming speaker in the new Congress, The Hill reported.
Freshmen Reps. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., Jen Kiggans, R-Va., and Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., will accompany McCarthy to the border. Ciscomani delivered the GOP’s State of the Union response in Spanish last week.
McCarthy told reporters Monday that the group will travel within the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector. The House members will be briefed and receive an aerial tour from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
As minority leader, McCarthy made securing the border a key issue before the midterms.
Shortly after the November elections, McCarthy visited El Paso, Texas, and called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign over his handling of the southern border.
Several House conservatives have called for the impeachment of Mayorkas for failing to police the border adequately.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who in August 2021 was the first member of Congress to introduce articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, on Feb. 1 filed a new and exhaustive article of impeachment against the secretary.
McCarthy, though, has said he will not use impeachment for political purposes, vowing to launch an inquiry if a reason presents itself.
"We will never use impeachment for political reasons. It’s just not going to happen," McCarthy said during a press conference last week, The Hill reported.
"That doesn’t mean if something rises to the level [of] impeachment, we would not do it."
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Friday that it had hired a New York-based law firm to help in the agency's response to House Republicans submitting articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, along with handling any potential House inquiries.
The Border Safety and Security Act has not come to floor despite House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., in December saying the bill would pass in the first two weeks of the new Congress.
The legislation would allow the DHS to turn away migrants in an effort to reach "operational control" at the border.
Some House members are worried about the limits it would place on asylum.