Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Attorney General Jeff Sessions will visit the border in San Diego and El Paso this week.

The officials from the administration of President Donald Trump will come to San Diego on Friday to see both the border and immigration detention operations after observing operations at the Southwest border in Texas on Thursday, according to a news release from the Department of Homeland Security.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, will join the pair in San Diego.

Sessions recently visited the border in Nogales, Ariz., where he made a speech describing border communities as a “war zone.”


Immigrants rights advocates in San Diego have criticized officials from the Trump administration for visiting border communities without meeting with local leaders to learn about different perspectives on life by the border.

Information released about Kelly’s and Sessions’ schedules does not include meetings with local leaders. The release says Sessions and Kelly will meet with Department of Justice and Homeland Security personnel in El Paso.

In February, Kelly visited San Diego, receiving feedback on border wall proposals and talking tough about so-called “sanctuary cities,” which don’t cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts. He met with local law-enforcement leaders.


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kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate on Twitter