A bipartisan coalition of congress members is heading to the southern U.S. border on Friday. The Problem Solvers Caucus plans to visit a detention center in the Rio Grande Valley.
Among those making the trip is Southern Tier Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning). He is a co-chair of the Problem Solvers and said he is looking forward to talking with people on the frontline about how $4.6 billion in recently approved aid has helped, and what more can be done.
“So we don’t have these crises continuing at the border even when they’re taken care of in the short-term,” Reed said. “If we don’t fix the root cause of the problem, our broken immigration policy, we’re going to be right back into this situation again,” Reed said.
On a related matter, Reed said he does not believe President Trump is racist. He was responding to comments President Trump has been making on Twitter criticizing four Democratic congresswomen.
The President has been telling them to go back to where they came from. All four are citizens and three were born in the United States.
“I don’t agree with the tweet,” said Reed. “I think the sentiment can be interpreted, rightfully, as offensive and I think it’s, it was inappropriate.”
Despite that, Reed did not vote for a House resolution on Tuesday to condemn the tweets as racist.
Reed represents the 23rd congressional district. It includes 11 counties, among them Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany.