Both Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) visited the United States' southern border in the beginning of 2017, but they met with two different groups of people.
Pelosi appeared over the weekend at a respite center in the Rio Grande Valley that aids immigrants released from Border Patrol and reportedly accommodated undocumented immigrants in the past.
Cruz visited the border in February and said he likes to meet with Border Patrol in the area whenever he comes.
"Every time I come to the border, I try to listen and ask questions to border patrol, law enforcement, sheriffs. And just listen to and ask, what works?" Cruz said, according to RGV Proud.
Cruz rode in a helicopter and boat with Texas Department of Public Safety officers and Border Patrol agents along the Rio Grande River. The Texas senator said he asked law enforcement whether a wall was effective and helped them enforce the border, adding that agents told him it was a "helpful tool."
"I just said, 'You tell me. Is this a good thing for you?' And the answer I got was an emphatic, 'Yes,' that the wall is a helpful tool. They said, 'The wall doesn’t stop traffickers, but it slows them down,'" Cruz said of his conversations.
Pelosi, on the other hand, said during her trip that a wall would not protect Americans.
"A wall is not protecting the American people," said Pelosi, who traveled to a respite center run by Catholic charities.