(NewsNation) — The House Judiciary Committee is set to hold a field hearing focused on the border crisis in California, which has been leading the way when it comes to migrant encounters at the southern border.
As lawmakers got the lay of the land in the Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector, NewsNation rode along with the convoy of lawmakers as they toured one of the border crossing hot spots known as “Whiskey 8” in San Ysidro.
There, the convoy encountered five migrants who had come through a gap in the border wall and were looking to self-surrender to Border Patrol.
They told NewsNation they didn’t know about the Biden administration’s legal pathway through the CBP One App, which is meant to help facilitate legal border crossings.
One man from India said he had asylum in Brazil, but the crime there was out of control so he came to the U.S.
A father-daughter duo from Guatemala and a mother and her 8-year-old daughter from Colombia were also among the group, saying they paid cartel members thousands of dollars to cross there.
None of them were concerned about being returned to their home countries, all confident they would be able to stay in the U.S. and reporting that they have family here. They said their family members were in New Jersey, California and Arizona.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., is one of the lawmakers attending the hearing. He said there needs to be more done to disincentivize people from coming across the border between ports of entry.
“You cannot just circumvent the legal pathway for coming into this country which allows about a million people in, more than the rest of the world combined,” he said. “So, you have to say ‘I’m sorry, you can’t be here.'”
Another focus for lawmakers is the flow of fentanyl across the border, the San Diego Sector rivaling the Tucson Sector when it comes to fentanyl seizures at the border.
Lawmakers were able to get access to what is called a fentanyl locker — where the drug is kept once it’s been confiscated by Customs and Border Protection — to get a firsthand look at what has been seized.
While lawmakers have taken trips to Texas several times as well as Arizona, trips to California have been much less frequent. However, the San Diego Sector is the busiest for migrant encounters.
This year, it is also leading the way in fentanyl seizures, with more than 5,000 pounds, nearly a third of the total along the southwest border. Overall, agents seized 17,000 pounds in 2024, a 26% drop from 2023.
Despite the decrease, the past three years have still seen 58,000 pounds seized, which could amount to 13 billion potentially fatal doses.
NewsNation reached out to Democratic lawmakers in San Diego about the hearing and has not received a response.