U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez recently returned to the southern U.S. and Mexico border for the first time since her mother — nearly 40 years ago — crossed the border while pregnant with her. 

Ramirez made history after defeating her Republican challenger Justin Burau in the Nov. 8 race for Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District to become the first Latina to ever represent a Midwest state in Congress, and she also became only the third Latino to ever be elected from Illinois. 

“This was my second time at the border, with my first time being in my mother’s womb when she nearly drowned crossing the Rio Grande while pregnant with me 40 years ago,” said Ramirez in a statement.

Alongside fellow Democrats of the Committee on Homeland Security — which Ramirez serves as Vice Ranking Member — it was a part of a delegation trip to the border in Brownsville, Texas where they met with local border officials and advocates and toured the Department of Homeland Security’s facilities. 

Democrats on the committee include (MS) Rep. Bennie Thompson, (TX) Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, (NJ) Rep. Donald Payne, (CA) Rep. Eric Swalwell, (CA) Rep. Lou Correa, (LA) Rep. Troy Carter, (MI) Rep. Shri Thanedar, (RI) Rep. Seth Magaziner, (MD) Rep. Glenn Ivey, (NY) Rep. Dan Goldman, (CA) Rep. Robert Garcia, (NJ) Rep. Rob Menendez, (NY) Rep. Yvette Clarke, and (NV) Rep. Dina Titus. 

“Going to the same border my mom crossed now as the Vice Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee and as the Congresswoman for IL-03 reaffirmed for me with unshakeable clarity: the only reason anyone would risk everything to cross the border between ports of entry is because the stakes are life or death, period,” Ramirez said. 

“We need to fully uphold the right to seek asylum,” she added. “In the same week, migrant tents in Mexico were set on fire as people languished unable to get one of the limited daily slots for entry through the CBPOne app.” 

Their visit to the border precedes President Biden’s official 2024 re-election announcement on Tuesday, April 25, who was reportedly also set to introduce a new border security plan ahead of a possible surge in migrant crossings in the month of May, due to the expiration of the Trump-era policy Title-42, according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 

"I think next week we’ll have more to say about our preparation and some of the things we are going to be doing," Mayorkas told reporters last Thursday. 

Nothing as such has been announced yet, as of publication. 

A positive sign as Democrats have repeatedly called on the president to act quicker and more aggressively on immigration with Title-42 expected to be lifted on May 11.

The secretary’s comments come after Rep. Lou Correa — days earlier on Apr. 18 — penned a letter to Mayorkas alongside fellow Latino Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY) and Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia (IL) to warn DHS of the incoming wave. 

“While we applaud the Biden Administration for terminating this Trump-era policy that wrongly prevented people from seeking assistance at our ports of entry, we recognize that end of this thinly veiled border control policy may lead to a temporary influx of asylum-seekers,” the letter read. 

“In particular, we hope Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is prepared to provide appropriate housing conditions to all migrants temporarily in their care, and expeditiously vet and process all those to be released pending their immigration hearings,” they added. 

Ramirez also tweeted three actions that she says Biden could take right now, such as dedicating emergency resources to cities and states sheltering migrants, granting parole to undocumented immigrants, keeping families and communities together, and issuing expedited work permits.