House

Ryan tours Mexican border on horseback

by Cristina Marcos - 02/22/17 3:01 PM ET

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) spent part of his tour of the U.S-Mexico border on Wednesday with Border Patrol officials on horseback.

Video surfaced Wednesday afternoon showing Ryan riding a horse during his visit to the southwestern border; the Speaker did not appear to be wearing a riding helmet.

Alert: Paul Ryan on a horse (pretty, pretty good!) pic.twitter.com/9OddyKqR8Q

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 22, 2017

Ryan also toured the Rio Grande and surrounding areas with Homeland Security officials by boat and helicopter.

{mosads}He’s also expected to visit the McAllen Border Control Station, which patrols 53 miles of the Rio Grande.

Several other members of Congress are also visiting the border this week while the House and Senate are out of session.

Once back in session, lawmakers plan to consider legislation this year that would use taxpayer money to fund the border wall President Trump campaigned on.

The Trump administration this week outlined a substantially more aggressive approach to deporting people in the U.S. illegally. Memos signed by Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly increase the number of immigrants considered high-priority for deportation.

By comparison, the Obama administration focused more narrowly on deporting those in the country illegally who had serious criminal records or who had recently crossed the border.

Ryan is being joined this week by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), who chairs an Appropriations subcommittee overseeing homeland security.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has posted multiple photos of his border tour on social media.

One showed that Ryan isn’t the only lawmaker on horseback while touring the border. A photo posted by Cornyn shows Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) “on border horse patrol.”