Politics

Jordan Demands Republicans Be Allowed To Speak At Immigration Hearing After Ocasio-Cortez Added To Panel

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Henry Rodgers Chief National Correspondent
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Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan on Thursday night wrote a letter to House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings asking that four Republicans from border states be allowed to testify in a hearing with only Democrats about the crisis at the border.

Jordan, the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, wrote a letter to Cummings saying he learned for the first time that Cummings had invited four Democratic members, who include three members of the committee, to testify about the crisis at the border. Jordan asked Cummings to be fair and include four Republicans to testify and add their perspective.

The Democratic members Cummings invited include Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez,  Massachusets Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib.

Jordan asked that four Republican congressmen get the opportunity to testify as well, naming four members from border states, including Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, Texas Rep. Michael Cloud, Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko, and Texas Rep. Chip Roy.

“Therefore, for fairness and to ensure a balanced presentation tomorrow, we respectfully request that you invite the following Republican Members to testify about the unprecedented humanitarian and security crisis at the southern border,” Jordan wrote in the letter.

READ THE LETTER HERE:

This all comes amid apprehension concerning immigrants that has increased every month since January. There have also been more than 100,000 encounters with illegal immigrants at the southern border in both March and April, setting the border crisis on track to be the worst it has been in a decade. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: House Freedom Caucus Creates New Leadership Positions To Help Fight Dems In Congress)

“Chairman Cummings has repeatedly promised fair and legitimate oversight. If he doesn’t allow Republican members to testify at tomorrow’s border hearing, it will just show that he is more focused on scoring political points than solving the humanitarian crisis at the southern border,” a Republican Spokesperson for the committee told the Daily Caller.

Ocasio-Cortez reportedly screamed at federal law enforcement officers “in a threatening manner” Monday while visiting the U.S.-Mexico border, according to The Washington Examiner.