Congressman Balderson makes trip to Southern Border

MUSKINGUM COUNTY, Ohio- Two area congressmen representatives visited the southern border to see firsthand the immigration crisis.

Representatives Troy Balderson and Bill Johnson visited the Rio Grande Sector of the southern border in McAllen, Texas on May 4. Congressman Balderson said he was able to view the facilities and the transportation process.

“It’s overwhelming the border patrol, it’s overwhelming customs. Just trying to get a sense of what they need down there. Obviously, it’s a humanitarian issue,” Congressman Representative Troy Balderson said.

Balderson said the border patrol needs more people, personnel, infrastructure and technology to address the issue.

“The biggest thing now is the impact on children. We don’t talk about that a lot… There’ve been so many people at one time coming over that they’ve made a processing facility underneath the bridge to process these folks. I saw thousands come across and by the time they got them to where they needed to be, five hundred of those mothers had children under six to get here,” Balderson said.

Balderson said this issue needs to be addressed, including both the migrant apprehensions and drug cartel.