WASHINGTON – Backed by the Senate’s top Republican, John Cornyn brought a delegation of GOP colleagues Friday to the U.S.-Mexico border to showcase and defend the party’s approach to stopping illegal crossings.
The visit comes as Cornyn, Texas’ incumbent senator, faces pointed attacks on immigration from primary challengers Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who led the group of lawmakers, vouched for Cornyn’s border security credentials during a news conference in McAllen, describing the Texas senator as a “foremost expert” who has educated his colleagues on the issue.
Cornyn highlighted $46.5 billion passed as part of President Donald Trump’s budget bill to construct more border wall sections, accompanied by cameras and sensors that help Border Patrol apprehend people crossing illegally.
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“The part that I’m most concerned about or most interested in, of course, is making sure that the federal government does right by the state of Texas and Texas taxpayers,” Cornyn said.
He cited $13.5 billion in the bill the federal government will reimburse border states for costs they incurred during the Biden administration.
About $11 billion of that money is expected to flow to Texas, Cornyn said, to cover expenses from Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature border initiative Operation Lone Star.
Texas Republicans in Congress have pressed the administration to prioritize delivering the money to the state.
Cornyn said he expects the money to arrive soon.
Paxton and Hunt belittled Cornyn’s border appearance.
Paxton said in a news release it was intended to hide Cornyn’s record of undermining Trump’s efforts to finish the border wall.
“Texans aren’t going to forget how Cornyn’s betrayed our country, and no last minute trip to the border to try and act tough is going to change that,” Paxton said.
The Paxton campaign highlighted Cornyn’s past statements, such as saying “a new, giant wall between the United States and Mexico from sea to shining sea makes no sense whatsoever” and questioning Trump’s understanding of border issues.
The Hunt campaign released a video featuring some of the same Cornyn quotes.
“Word on the street is John Cornyn will be visiting the border on Friday for a photo-op,” Hunt captioned the video on X. “What’s he going to do, look at the wall he opposed?”
Cornyn told reporters earlier in the week that Paxton and Hunt are taking his past comments out of context.
“The idea of just building the wall obviously . . . would not have done the job,” Cornyn said. “I’ve said a million times in order to secure the border we need infrastructure, we need technology and we need boots on the ground.”
He highlighted the Border Patrol union’s decision to endorse his reelection bid.
“If I was a little squishy on the border, I doubt that would happen,” Cornyn said.