North Carolina’s senior senator, Thom Tillis, will make a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border next week to evaluate the area’s humanitarian and security challenges, according to a news release Friday from Tillis’ office.

Tillis will join seven other senators, both Democrats and Republicans, to “see the border crisis firsthand,” Tillis stated.

“There is a humanitarian and security crisis raging at the southern border, with historic illegal entries and massive amounts of dangerous drugs being smuggled into our country due to failed policies and enforcement coming from Washington,” Tillis stated.

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The senators' two-day trip includes stops in El Paso, Texas, and Yuma, Arizona, where they plan to meet law enforcement officials, community leaders and representatives of nonprofits that care for asylum seekers.

Accompanying Tillis on the visit starting Monday will be Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona independent; John Cornyn, a Texas Republican; Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat; James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican; Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat; Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican; and Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat.

President Joe Biden is scheduled travel to El Paso on Sunday in connection with a visit Mexico City next week, where he will meet with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. Biden said Thursday that he would stop in El Paso to assess border enforcement and meet with community leaders.

Biden on Thursday also announced a new immigration policy intended to encourage migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to apply for temporary status in the U.S. rather than coming to the border. 

Tillis previously visited the border in March 2021 during a migrant surge after the Biden administration reversed Trump-era immigration policies.