(CNN) Vice President Mike Pence plans to visit the US Border Patrol Station in Nogales, Arizona, on Thursday, where he will be briefed by Customs and Border Protection agents and tour the border wall, according to a White House official.

The trip comes amid controversy surrounding the departure of President Donald Trump's homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, reports of additional officials being purged and confusion about Trump's border security plans and policies

Pence has been a staunch supporter of Trump's immigration efforts.

Speaking last month at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Atlanta, Pence said: "I don't have to tell any of the ICE agents gathered here that we have a crisis on our southern border.'

"But that crisis on our southern border is driving drugs and crime and human trafficking here in the streets of Atlanta. You face it and you confront it every day. And you face it oftentimes without regard to your personal safety," Pence said.

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