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Wenstrup speaks to WCPO ahead of visit to U.S.-Mexico border

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Posted at 10:20 PM, Apr 08, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-08 23:33:43-04

CINCINNATI — The number of people illegally entering the U.S. is nearing a record, and immigration authorities say they arrested more than 172,000 migrants at the southwest border last month.

Congressman Brad Wenstrup, the Republican representing Ohio’s 2nd District, is getting ready to head to the U.S-Mexico border Friday with the GOP Doctors Caucus.

In an exclusive interview with WCPO 9, Wenstrup said he is hoping to find answers about what he calls a “humanitarian crisis" at the border.

“I'm looking for some of the things I brought up: Where are people coming from? Why are they coming here? You know, what is it that they're leaving that makes them come to America? Who are they paying to get them into America? That's one thing, and then you want to try and find solutions to their problems,” Wenstrup said.

With the Doctors Caucus, he’s looking forward to learning what legislators can do to “negotiate change throughout the world.”

“We're definitely very interested in how people are being managed from the health care standpoint; what risks are (immigrants) themselves through this whole process and when they get here, and what risks are they to our fellow Americans as they enter the country.”

Some of Wenstrup’s colleagues, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va), visited border facilities over the past several weeks. After his visit, Manchin remarked that immigration has been an issue for decades, and partisan politics won’t solve it.

“It won't get solved if we're just pointing fingers, you know, but we do want to learn best practices, right?” Wenstrup said. “If there's things that we can take away and say, well, the Trump administration did this -- and forget, forget who did it -- but this was done under the Trump administration, and that worked, and it worked well for the people involved."

“Maybe it doesn't work, or maybe something the previous administration did that didn't work. Those are the things we have to discuss openly.”