Thursday, 1 July 2021 (YJC) _Former President Donald Trump still wants a wall on the southern border and he said it's Democrats' fault it hasn't happened yet.
On this wet, humid Wednesday on the South Texas border, Trump met with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and more than 20 House Republicans and local border officials to discuss efforts to build a wall, an echo of years and campaigns past. The visit served Trump a public space to vent his frustrations, and served as an act of loyalty of sorts for the Republicans clustered around him. It also highlighted Republicans' desire to push immigration to the forefront amid the ongoing border crisis.
Trump flew into the Rio Grande Valley in the morning and sat next to Abbott for a roundtable with Republicans and Texas leaders on efforts to build the wall. He mostly stayed on message during his remarks at the roundtable, touting his administration's immigration policies, such as building the border wall and his "Remain in Mexico" policy. But moments of his past frustrations, including the Russia investigation and his loss in the 2020 presidential election, also popped up during his remarks.
Along with the Texas GOP leaders, more than 20 House Republicans traveled to South Texas to participate in the border visit with the former President to make clear they still stand with him, with a handful even not participating in the vote on legislation to create a select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection.
Before the meeting with Trump on Wednesday, the majority of House Republicans arrived at McAllen, Texas, on Tuesday night and visited part of the porous border wall on a tour led by Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee.
One by one, the House Republicans took turns taking photos and doing livestream interviews with conservative media at an open spot of the border wall near La Joya at midnight Tuesday. Some migrants, mostly young women and children, could be seen walking to turn themselves in to Border Patrol agents near the wall. Conservative Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, translated by a conservative media reporter who spoke Spanish, spoke to women about why they were crossing into the United States and where they originally came from.
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