NORFOLK, Va. — Border security is a big talking point this election season, both in the presidential and local races.
North Carolina Congressman Don Davis (D, NC-01) is the latest politician to tout his record on border security, including claims he’s visited the border three times and voted to add 22,000 agents.
Are all of those claims true? Let’s verify.
Don Davis' southern border visits
His ad says: “Don Davis is working to secure our borders. He’s even been there three times. That’s why he voted to add 22 thousand more border patrol agents.”
On May 19, 2023r, Davis traveled to Texas to visit two border towns: Brownsville and McAllen. According to a press release on Davis’ official House.gov website, he returned to the border again, this time visiting Eagle Pass, Texas.
This year, he made another visit to a border state, visiting Tucson, Arizona. He posted a photo on his official Instagram showing him at the Port of Entry in Nogales.
So we can Verify: Davis did visit the border on three separate trips.
Adding 22,000 more Border Patrol agents
The ad also says Davis “voted to add 22,000 more Border Patrol agents.”
This needs context. According to the House Committee on Appropriations, the nearly $75 billion Fiscal Year 2025 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill secures the border by, among other things, “sustaining funding for 22,000 Border Patrol agents.”
According to the latest figures from US Customs and Border Protection’s official website, the agency employed just over 19,000 border patrol agents in 2022 and yes, has funding for 22,000 agents.
In his ad, Davis also says he sponsored a bill to end fentanyl trafficking. And yes, he is a co-sponsor of the “END FENTANYL Act” introduced last year and aimed at stepping up border security to prevent smuggling.
Davis represents North Carolina's 1st Congressional District, which includes several southeastern NC counties including Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Tyrrell counties.