Ben Carson is traveling to Jordan on Friday in order to gain a better understanding of the plight faced by refugees fleeing war-torn Syria, he told The New York Times.

“I find when you have firsthand knowledge of things as opposed to secondhand, it makes a much stronger impression,” the GOP presidential candidate told the paper.

Carson plans to meet with refugees at the Azraq refugee camp in northern Jordan, where the retired neurosurgeon will visit a clinic and a hospital. He will also bring soccer balls and Beanie Babies to distribute to children in the camp, according to the Times.

Carson opposes allowing Syrian refugees into the country, pointing to the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris in which at least one assailant is suspected of entering the country posing as a migrant.

The Republican presidential hopeful’s foreign policy acumen has been scrutinized as national security concerns loom larger in the 2016 primary contest.

Front-runner Donald Trump has intensified his rhetoric on defense, suggesting the U.S. needs to spy on mosques in order to root out home-grown terrorist plots.

After a brief stint atop the polls, Carson has dropped 9 points in the Iowa caucus in the last month, according to a RealClearPolitics average poll.