DHS secretary and lawmakers visit U.S.-Mexico border amid influx of asylum seekers

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border Friday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers as an influx of migrants seek asylum, creating a backlog of unaccompanied minors in U.S. custody. 

Mayorkas was joined by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Gary Peters and ranking member Rob Portman, as well as the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Homeland Security, Democrat Chris Murphy, and ranking member Shelley Moore Capito. The group traveled to El Paso, Texas, visiting the Paso del Norte International Crossing, "where they were provided with an overview of Port of Entry enforcement activities and a briefing on the wind down of the Migrant Protection Protocols," according to a readout of the trip from the Department of Homeland Security. They also visited the newly constructed Centralized Processing Center where unaccompanied minors and families are initially sheltered after crossing the border, and toured the CHS Trail House Shelter, an Office of Refugee Resettlement facility providing care for children before they're placed with family members or a sponsor.