WASHINGTON, D.C. — As a bipartisan national security package sits at the brink of defeat on Capitol Hill, two Ohio Democrats borrowed a page from the Republican playbook by traveling south to visit the U.S.-Mexico border. They said the trip showed Democrats are just as serious as Republicans about border policy reform.

For months Republicans have been making highly publicized trips to the southern border in Texas to highlight conditions there, as well as accuse Democrats of being part of the problem.

A group of eight House Democrats took a tour hosted by Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas. They stopped at a port of entry, a border processing facility and a local nonprofit.

“It’s really important to see firsthand and talk to the people who are dealing with it and who have a good sense as to how to fix it,” said Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, who attended the tour.

Landsman said Democrats agree with Republicans that the immigration system is broken. In January, he introduced a bill to fund enhancements to border security.

Landsman said he didn’t understand why, then, Republicans would oppose a bipartisan package negotiated in the Senate to clamp down on border crossing and fund the hiring of border agents and immigration judges, among other measures.

“It's terribly frustrating and I think I speak for folks back home, whether they’re Democrats, Republicans, Independents, we’re just frustrated by the idea that things don’t happen because of politics,” Landsman said.

Former President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have been making conditions at the border a centerpiece of this year’s campaign.

Some GOP senators have said Trump is urging Republicans to oppose the Senate legislation because it would defuse a top campaign issue. Some Republicans deny that claim, saying they oppose the Senate bill because it is flawed.

Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Ohio, who was also on the Texas border trip, said in a statement:

“For too long, discussions in D.C. around border security and immigration reform have been partisan, with the current House majority prioritizing political stunts over real policy solutions… It’s clear we need a bipartisan, comprehensive solution that increases funding to secure the southern border, combats the flow of illicit fentanyl through our ports of entry, and addresses the backlog of visa applications and asylum cases.”

Landsman didn’t think voters would support a block of the border security bill.

“It’s not an effective strategy by the majority,” he said. “They’re going to try to distract the American people.”

Still, Democrats realize the importance of getting something done, and used the trip to call for passage of the Senate’s bipartisan plan. They also countered Republicans’ claim that President Joe Biden could solve the border crisis through executive actions.

“We are the legislative branch of government. This is our job, our obligation,” Escobar said at a press conference during the tour. “They are not telling the American people the truth.”

Republicans have demanded that the nation’s top Democrat—Biden—visit the border as well to see conditions there. So far he has not done so.

The week after the trip, though, the bipartisan border security deal tilted further toward the brink of defeat.

House Republican opposition to the bill grew and on Tuesday, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., vowed were the bill to pass in the Senate, it would be “dead on arrival” in the House.

Ohio GOP House members largely lined up behind the party. When Spectrum News reached out to all Republican House members from Ohio, several confirmed they would not vote for the bill.

Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, wrote in a statement,

“The House passed H.R. 2 in May. Defend America and secure our borders. Until then, zero!”

Rep. Mike Carey wrote in a statement,

“I cannot support legislation that fails to change the state of the border crisis. This bill allows 5,000 illegal immigrants to cross the border every day and codifies catch and release while doing nothing to stem the flow of deadly drugs and human trafficking.”

Rep. Bob Latta wrote in a statement,

“Any bill that has a chance of becoming law needs to clear both chambers of Congress. As it stands, the bill produced by the Senate is dead on arrival in the U.S. House. The House has already done its job of passing a no-nonsense border security bill in H.R. 2 – the Secure the Border Act.”

Rep. Troy Balderson wrote in a statement,

“The Senate’s current border deal falls far short of meaningfully addressing the crisis at our southern border. The Biden Administration has made it clear that they do not take this crisis seriously, yet the bill gives unprecedented authority to Secretary Mayorkas, who has already violated his oath of office and breached public trust.”