A black Republican was not having it when Democratic members of House Oversight Committee accused him and his Republican colleagues of promoting "white nationalism" because they were holding a hearing on the southern border crisis.

Shortly into the hearing Tuesday, GOP Rep. Byron Donalds Florida said, "I'm just going to cut to the chase. For my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who want to state that we're using this hearing for white nationalism, I'm not doing that."

Donalds, added, "So, if you feel that strongly, come walk up to this side of the room and let's talk about it face to face."

"But leave that kind of silly stuff for somebody else. Don't bring that here today. This stuff is serious."

REP. BYRON DONALDS: "For my colleagues...who wanna state that we're using this hearing for white nationalism, I'm not doing that!...If you feel that strongly...let's talk about it face to face." pic.twitter.com/FbAShNAjPU

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 7, 2023

Prior to the hearing, committee Democrats had posted on their official Twitter account, "Good morning and good luck to everyone except @GOPoversight members who are using today's hearing to amplify white nationalist conspiracy theories instead of a comprehensive solution to protect our borders and strengthen our immigration system."

Good morning and good luck to everyone except @GOPoversight members who are using today's hearing to amplify white nationalist conspiracy theories instead of a comprehensive solution to protect our borders and strengthen our immigration system.https://t.co/V4kv8twk5a

— Oversight Committee Democrats (@OversightDems) February 7, 2023

Oversight committee Chairman Rep. James Comer of Kentucky also responded to the tweet saying, "Really? I don't even know what to say about that."

Comer reminded committee members that it's against House rules to "engage in personalities regarding other members or to question the motives of a colleague."

"So remarks of the type we just saw in the tweet are not permitted by the rules and are not in keeping with the best traditions of our committee," Comer stated.

Later in the hearing, Donalds pointed to the record numbers of apprehensions of those trying to cross illegally into the U.S. at the southern border.

For most of the last dozen years, he explained going year-by-year, the number of encounters ranged between 300,000 and 500,000, with the exception of 2019, when there were over 850,000 apprehended.

However, that number went back down to about 400,000 in 2020.

After President Joe Biden took office, the numbers shot up to all-time record highs of more than 1.6 million in 2021 and 2.2 million in 2022.

What changed, Donalds contended, is that Biden rescinded the Migrant Protection Protocols ("Remain in Mexico" policy), stopped construction of the border wall, and "gutted interior enforcement" of immigration laws.

"Do you believe these policy changes actually led to the drastic increases in border encounters at the southern border?" Donalds asked Border Patrol Chief John Modlin, who oversees the Tucson Sector of the southern border.

[firefly_poll]

“The thing I can tell you that goes to the spike you’re talking about is in the Tucson sector, interviewing people post arrest, what became the most common response was that they believed that when the administration changed that the law changed and policy changed and that there was an open border," Modlin said.

Donalds responded, "The law did not change, Joe Biden decided not to follow the law."

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.