Tomorrow, July 13, Rep. Scott Peters (CA-52) will join Congressmen Filemon Vela (TX-34) and Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) at their invitation to visit the U.S.-Mexico border near McAllen and Brownsville, Texas. Rep. Peters and 19 other members of Congress from across the country will visit border facilities following last week’s Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) report. Rep. Peters will be briefed by U.S. Border Patrol agents about how increased detentions and length of detention stays are impacting their ability to do their jobs. He will also hear from migrant detention center staff, speak to children and parents who are currently at those locations, and join two nonprofit organizations to hear about their work to provide humanitarian support. He will also visit migrant families in Mexico that are attempting to apply for asylum in the United States.

The Texas-Mexico border has seen a massive surge of migrants seeking asylum. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol has already received a 269 percent increase in family units along the Rio Grande Sector compared to this time last year. Since the dramatic increase, there are numerous reports of overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and even sexual misconduct inside the migrant facilities.

“The San Diego community has come together and provided for those seeking asylum, but we are not the only community to see the rise in asylum-seekers at our border. As a member of Congress, it is my job to investigate the result of this administration’s policies, and I need to see the conditions in South Texas for myself. I look forward to talking to families and children who are living through this crisis, and hearing from the organizations on the ground who are providing vital services,” said Rep. Peters.