[FoxNews] Republican lawmakers say the border is 'not secure' following a trip to El Paso, Texas.
Republicans on the House Select Committee on Intelligence are raising the alarm about "grave" national security threats facing Americans due to the destabilized southern border.
Fox News Digital exclusively interviewed members of the congressional delegation following their law enforcement briefings and line tour along the El Paso, Texas, border with Mexico Friday.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, who serves as the ranking member on the committee, said that, counter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' claim earlier this week, the border "is not secure."
"We met with the FBI, the Texas Department of Safety, the Border Patrol. What's clear as we stand here on the border is that the border is not secure. Thousands of people are being apprehended a day, others cannot even be captured. The amount of drugs, even guns, that go across the border, cash, illegal activity, human trafficking. The toll that's happening on people who are crossing this border is extraordinary," Turner told Fox News Digital while standing next to the border wall with Mexico.
"This represents a national security threat. The number of people who are crossing who are not from Mexico, Central America, or even South America is enormous. These individuals are a threat to our national security. Many are from countries that have very questionable purposes when they come here. So our border patrol are overwhelmed. They need assistance. This wall needs to be completed.
"What we heard repeatedly today and yesterday was the portions of the wall that had been built worked. And some areas since the [Biden] administration stopped construction of the wall have gaps in them where wall was being repaired or replaced and those repairs even stopped. So today you have a porous border, you have a great risk to our nation."
The number of terrorists coming across the border poses an "absolute threat and danger" to the U.S., continued Turner.
"You have people who are on the terrorism watch list, people who are known terrorists, there is a threat of them crossing the border. People who have been apprehended fall within those categories," he said. "This represents an absolute threat and danger to our country, and it could be stopped if this border wall was completed. If we gave [Border Patrol] the right resources, we could be able to stop these border crossings and, of course, keep our country safe." 
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