All 15 Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee will boycott a hearing at the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday because they say the Republican majority plans to use it to overstate the border crisis, the Washington Examiner reported.
"After careful consideration, Committee Democrats have decided not to participate in the Republicans' field hearing this week," Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told the Examiner in a statement.
"Unfortunately, it has become clear that Republicans planned to politicize this event from the start, breaking with the committee's proud history of bipartisanship. Instead of a fact-finding mission to develop better border security and immigration policies, Republicans are traveling to the border to attack the administration and try to score political points with their extreme rhetoric — despite having voted against the resources border personnel need."
Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., said last week that the committee hearing would be held in the Rio Grande Valley. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz and others are set to testify.
Green was critical of Democrats for inviting their own witness, an official with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), then refusing to attend the hearing.
The witness still intends to testify, the Examiner reported.
"It's deeply disappointing that the minority members of the committee have chosen to bail on this week's full committee field hearing in Texas, only after they invited and confirmed a minority witness for one of the panels," Green said in a statement to the Examiner.
"The only message their absence sends is that they are uninterested in coming to the table to have a conversation about the devastation that this border crisis is having on Americans and their communities across the country. We will continue to encourage our Democrat colleagues to get out of the D.C., echo chamber and meet Americans where they are to discuss the biggest issues facing them."
Thompson said Democrats visit the border on their own and are aware of the situation.
In February, every Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee also declined to attend a meeting at the southern border.
Others slated to testify include: Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe, and National Border Patrol Council Vice President Chris Cabrera.
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