U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, of Illinois’ 12th District, recently returned to Washington, D.C., after a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border, where the Border Patrol is struggling with an uptick in agent suicide, he said.

Many of those agents are veterans. As chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Bost said that’s concerning.

More broadly, figuring out how to make the system at the border better is a tough subject, Bost said.

“There’s sensible things we can do — but the politics of it has got so bad that you can’t get anybody to sit down and agree on anything with that,” he said.

The five-term congressman, whose expansive district includes part of the Metro East, talked about the border and a variety of other key issues on the latest episode of the Politically Speaking podcast, including:

• What role migrant farm labor should play in immigration reform.
• The ongoing debate surrounding the country’s debt ceiling and how Republicans want to negotiate with President Joe Biden and Democrats.
• If a primary challenge by Darren Bailey, the former GOP nominee for governor, would concern Bost.

Bost was first elected to the U.S. House in 2014 — flipping a longtime Democratic stronghold. Previously, he served 20 years in the Illinois statehouse. After Democrats redrew Illinois’ districts in 2021, Bost’s 12th district became an apparent lock for Republicans.