George Santos' Border Trip Raises Eyebrows: 'What a Joke'

Representative George Santos' visit to the U.S.-Mexico border this week sparked backlash from his critics.

Santos, a New York Republican, visited the southern border near San Diego, California, on Monday, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. The visit comes just days after the House Ethics Committee released a report concluding investigators found "substantial" proof that the freshman lawmaker broke federal law.

According to the committee's 10-month-long inquiry, evidence shows that Santos used his campaign funds for personal use, engaged in "fraudulent conduct" and filed "false or incomplete reports" to the Federal Election Commission while running for office in 2022. Santos announced he would not run for a second term following the release of the report and is expected to face an expulsion vote in the coming days that could result in his removal from Congress.

Santos maintains his innocence and has pleaded not guilty to charges related to a criminal investigation into his alleged fraud.

Santos wrote that his border visit was to "personally learn about border security" from U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and that he was "eager to bring this information back to DC to address our border issues effectively."

Critics, on the other hand, mocked him for traveling to the border just days before his expulsion vote.

"While I've proposed real solutions to address the challenges we face at the border, disgraced MAGA Republican George Santos is using his last few days spending taxpayer money on a window tour of the border wall. What a joke," Representative Gabe Vasquez, a Democrat from New Mexico who represents a district bordering Mexico, wrote on X.

"George Santos yesterday at the southern border. Trying to find out if he was caught trying to flee," attorney Ron Filipkowski quipped.

Political commentator Russell Drew wrote: "George Santos is literally days away from being expelled from Congress. Grifting to the very end. Dude wanted a southern California Thanksgiving week vacation on taxpayers' money! Shameless."

Newsweek reached out to Santos' office for comment via email.

Although Santos has opted to not run for reelection, he has spoken out against the Ethics Committee's report, describing it as "biased" and arguing it should not have been released.

"It is a disgusting politicized smear that shows the depths of how low our federal government has sunk. Everyone who participated in this grave miscarriage of Justice should all be ashamed of themselves," he wrote in a November 16 post on X.

Santos represents New York's Third Congressional District, a battleground seat comprised of Long Island and parts of Queens that backed President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.