The group, which includes about one-third of the Republican lawmakers in the Oregon Legislature and three candidates, plans to visit Yuma, Arizona, and meet with Arizona lawmakers in Phoenix. They鈥檒l pay for the trip with personal or campaign funds, and a spokeswoman for Senate Republicans who will join the trip plans to use vacation time to attend.
Many of the lawmakers attending the border tour signed a to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this year praising his standoff with the Biden administration over border issues. Abbott has put up razor wire on the border, bused tens of thousands of undocumented migrants to Democratic cities far from the border and blocked U.S. Border Patrol agents from accessing some land.
Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, said the Oregon lawmakers鈥� letter to Abbott led to more connections with their colleagues in Arizona and Texas, resulting in an invitation to visit the border in Arizona. Despite Oregon鈥檚 distance from the southern border, he said Oregonians should be concerned about illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
鈥淲e know that there are drugs coming over the border, and those end up in probably all states, but certainly in the western states,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e obviously seen some crime impact from people who have come in illegally. I think all of us want legal immigration, and recognize the need, but we also want to know who鈥檚 in the country and right now, we don鈥檛, and that there鈥檚 significant danger there.鈥�
Crime and immigration have been increasingly linked in Republican rhetoric, but researchers say immigrants of all sorts . Federal law enforcement reports that, while the southern border is a significant drug smuggling route, most of the drugs are brought by not immigrants and asylum seekers.
Knopp, who led Senate Republicans鈥� six-week 2023 walkout over abortion and transgender health care legislation, can鈥檛 return to the Legislature next year because voters approved a constitutional amendment barring lawmakers who miss 10 or more days of floor sessions from reelection. He said he expects Oregon Republicans to introduce bills related to border security, immigration and crime 鈥� though what effect they could have when the federal government controls immigration policy and Democrats control Oregon鈥檚 legislative and executive branches remains to be seen.
The Oregon Republicans will participate in a tour of the border in Yuma led by Jonathan Lines, a Yuma County supervisor and former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party.
His itinerary for the Oregon Republicans includes walking along the border itself and seeing the different barriers erected on the orders of past administrations. He鈥檒l also take the visitors to meet with nongovernmental organizations and groups in Yuma, including visiting a local hospital and food bank. They鈥檒l meet with leaders from Amberly鈥檚 Place, a local child welfare center and hear from former Arizona Democratic state Sen. Amanda Aguirre, who leads the Regional Center for Border Health.
鈥淔or many people, this is not real,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey see images.鈥�
Lines told the Capital Chronicle he has fielded many requests from elected officials and candidates 鈥� most of them Republicans, though Democrat-turned-independent candidate for president Robert F. Kennedy Jr. participated in one 鈥� to tour the border. Some come just to get campaign photos and videos and others are there to learn, he said, but he shares the same information with both groups.
Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, said he鈥檚 joining the trip because he wants to hear from Arizonans about how Oregon can help 鈥渢ry and keep the bad guys out while allowing legal immigration to occur.鈥� He hears frequently from voters about border concerns, and he鈥檚 trying to figure out the connection between the southern border and the limited authority held by lawmakers in Salem.
鈥淲hat I do know is we鈥檝e heard testimony at the Capitol about drug cartels,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n my small little town of Milton-Freewater, I鈥檝e got Highway 11, and four months ago in December, I had over 200 people in a room, asking me,the state police and ODOT to create a safety corridor because they were concerned about drug cartels driving through and human trafficking cartels coming through.鈥�
Smith said he also hopes to meet with Arizona lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, to deliver an Oregon flag and discuss issues that matter to them. Sen. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford and no relation, also hopes to double-dip on the trip by connecting with Arizona lawmakers: He wants to build a coalition of western legislators who can work together on fire policy and exert pressure on Congress to provide resources to prevent and respond to the infernos that blaze across the Western U.S. each year.
He said illegal drugs, many of which law enforcement suspects make it across the southern border, are a top concern in his southern Oregon district.
鈥淭here鈥檚 basically three ways to get drugs to Portland and two of them, two of those highways come through my district,鈥� Brock Smith said.
Earlier this month, for instance Oregon State Police reported that they stopped a Phoenix man driving north of Roseburg with 62 pounds of methamphetamine and 22,000 fentanyl-laced pills that police said the man was taking to Portland.
Democrats panned the visit as a campaign stunt. Hannah Howell, executive director of the House Democrats鈥� campaign arm, FuturePAC, said Democrats are staying in Oregon to fix Oregon鈥檚 problems and Republicans are welcome to join them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 honestly baffling,鈥� Howell said. 鈥淲hile Oregonians are worried about rising prices and safety and homelessness, Republicans are inventing a reason to bring divisive national problems 鈥� that they don鈥檛 even know how to solve 鈥� to our state.鈥�
Howell鈥檚 counterpart at the Senate Democratic Leadership Fund, Oliver Muggli, added 鈥淥regonians expect their elected officials to be focused on our people in our state, not playing MAGA politics a thousand miles away. This is a cheap election-year stunt that does nothing except show how deeply out-of-touch Republican politicians are with Oregon priorities.鈥�
Who鈥檚 going to the border?
Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend
Sen. Fred Girod, R-Silverton
Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville
Sen. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford
Sen. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer
Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner
Rep. Court Boice, R-Gold Beach
Rep. Virgle Osborne, R-Roseburg
Rep. Boomer Wright, R-Coos Bay
Rep. Lucetta Elmer, R-McMinnville
Rep. Christine Goodwin, R-Canyonville
Rep. Dwayne Yunker, R-Grants Pass
Bruce Starr, Senate candidate from Dundee
Michael Summers, Senate candidate from Redmond
Keri Lopez, House candidate from Redmond
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