On Monday, Reps. Pete Aguilar (D-San Bernardino) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Downey) visited the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego to tour the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa Ports of Entry, and were shown the prototypes for the border wall proposed by President Trump. The visit was organized by Rep. Roybal-Allard, who serves as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security on the House Appropriations Committee.

“Spending time at the border makes it easy to see how connected our countries are, and how important immigrants are to Southern California’s economy and culture. I see the value in thoughtful infrastructure investments at the border, but we need to take a smart, comprehensive approach responsive to the realities on the ground. A coast-to-coast wall is not the solution. I’m hopeful that we can still find a bipartisan compromise that will allow us to gain operational control of the border while upholding our values as a nation of immigrants,” said Rep. Aguilar.

“It was deeply informative to visit the border. As the top Democrat on House Homeland Security Appropriations, seeing the border firsthand gives me a stronger sense of the realities we face as we set DHS funding priorities for the years to come. As we work to address border security, we must ensure that any plan we enact is humane, effective, and fiscally responsible — and it is clear that a 3,000-mile wall is not the answer. I hope my colleagues across the aisle will work with us to develop a sensible and fact-based approach to securing our border while treating immigrants with compassion,” said Rep. Roybal-Allard.

Both Reps. Aguilar and Roybal-Allard are fierce advocates on behalf of immigrant communities in Southern California and across the nation, and each has sponsored bipartisan legislation to offer a permanent legislative solution for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. Rep. Aguilar is the co-author of the Uniting and Securing America (USA) Act with Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) and Rep. Roybal-Allard introduced the Dream Act of 2018 with Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL).