Pence tours Rio Grande between US and Mexico

Vice President Pence was in Texas on Friday where he toured the U.S.-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

During his trip, Pence held a roundtable discussion with local law enforcement on the challenges of enforcing border security and visited the Hidalgo Port of Entry, a major crossing between the U.S. and Mexico.

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Pence tweeted Friday that securing the United States’ southern border was a matter of “vital national security.”

“Heading to Texas to survey our nation’s border with @DHSgov @SecNielsen and to be briefed on potential security threats by U.S. Customs & Border Protection. It’s a matter of vital national security that we secure our border,” Pence wrote.

Heading to Texas to survey our nation’s border with @DHSgov @SecNielsen and to be briefed on potential security threats by U.S. Customs & Border Protection. It’s a matter of vital national security that we secure our border. pic.twitter.com/BnSMJyZSY1

— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) February 16, 2018

Pence’s trip to the border comes amid bipartisan discussions in Washington about an immigration deal, which Republicans and Democrats are hoping to reach before March 5.

That’s the deadline that President Trump gave lawmakers to protect young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children currently covered under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which Trump announced last year that he would end.

Earlier this week, a centrist immigration proposal spearheaded by GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) failed in the Senate by a vote of 54-45, while a proposal based on the White House immigration framework failed by a vote of 39-60. Both proposals needed 60 votes to overcome a procedural hurdle.

The Trump administration has indicated it is unlikely to extend DACA protections if Congress does not reach a deal before March.