Biden walks US-Mexico border amid GOP criticism

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EL PASO, Texas (AP) President Joe Biden walked a muddy stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border and inspected a busy port of entry on Sunday during his first trip to the region after two years in office, a shady visit by tense immigration policy as Republicans try to blame it for record numbers of migrants entering the country.

During his first stop, the president observed border agents in El Paso demonstrate how they search vehicles for drugs, money and other contraband. Then he went to a dusty street with abandoned buildings and a small playground. Near the street was a metal fence that separated the American city from Ciudad Juarez. Biden walked slowly along the border wall, initially joined by two Border Patrol agents.

In a sign of deep tensions over immigration, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, handed Biden a letter upon his arrival in the state stating that the border chaos was a direct result of the president’s inability enforce federal laws. Biden then pulled the letter out of his jacket pocket on his tour, telling reporters I hadn’t read it yet.

When asked what he learned from seeing the border firsthand and speaking with the officers who work there, Biden replied: They need a lot of resources. Were going to get it for them.

For years, immigration has been a serious point of contention, exposing both the dysfunctionality of the US system and the unrest within migrants’ countries of origin that has driven many to flee. Administration officials have tried to counter Republican criticism by saying Congress should work with them to increase funding for border security and overhaul immigration policy.

Biden was only spending a few hours in the city, which is currently the largest corridor of illegal crossings, largely due to Nicaraguans fleeing repression, crime and poverty in their country. They are among migrants from four countries who are now subject to rapid deportation under new rules enacted by the Biden administration last week, which have drawn heavy criticism from immigration advocates.

The president was also expected to visit the El Paso County Migrant Services Center and meet with nonprofit organizations and religious groups that support migrants arriving in the United States. It was unclear whether he would speak to migrants.

Bidens’ announcement on border security and his visit to the border are intended in part to drown out political noise and lessen the impact of upcoming immigration investigations promised by House Republicans. But any lasting solution will require action from the sharply divided Congress, where multiple efforts to pass sweeping changes have failed in recent years.

From El Paso, Biden was expected to continue south to Mexico City, where he and the leaders of Mexico and Canada will meet Monday and Tuesday for a summit of North American leaders. Immigration is one of the items on the agenda.

In El Paso, where migrants congregate at bus stops and parks before continuing their journey, Border Patrol agents stepped up security ahead of Bidens’ visit.

I think they’re trying to send a message that they’re going to check people’s documented status more consistently, and if you haven’t been treated, they’re going to come and get you, said Ruben Garcia of the group. helps Annunciation House in El Paso.

Migrants and asylum seekers fleeing violence and persecution have increasingly found that protections in the United States are primarily available to those who have money or are savvy about finding someone to carry. guarantor for them financially.

Venezuelan migrant Jose Castillo, who said he traveled without family members for five months from his home on Margarita Island to arrive in El Paso on Dec. 29, said he hoped Biden would give us consideration. as human beings that we are.

Castillo was among a group of around 30 migrants who gathered for prayer Sunday morning outside the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart where many new arrivals have camped.

We have suffered a lot since entering the Darien Gap jungle and passing through Mexico. It’s all been a battle, a battle, a battle, he said. I know we are here illegally, but please give us a chance.

The number of migrants crossing the US-Mexico border increased dramatically during Bidens’ first two years in office. There were more than 2.38 million shutdowns in the year ending September 30, the first time the number topped 2 million. The administration has struggled to crack down on the crossings, reluctant to take sweeping measures akin to those of former President Donald Trump’s administration.

The policy changes announced last week are Bidens’ biggest move yet to contain illegal border crossings and will turn back tens of thousands of migrants arriving at the border. At the same time, 30,000 migrants a month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela will be able to come to the United States legally as long as they travel by plane, obtain a sponsor and pass security checks. antecedents.

The United States will also refuse migrants who do not first seek asylum in a country they passed through en route to the United States. Migrants are asked to fill out a form on a phone app so they can get to a port of entry at a pre-scheduled date and time.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters aboard Air Force One that the administration was trying to encourage a safe and orderly manner and suppress contraband organizations, saying the policies are not du all a ban, but an attempt to protect migrants from the trauma that smuggling can create.

The changes have been welcomed by some, especially leaders of towns where migrants have flocked. But Biden has been excoriated by immigrant advocacy groups, who have accused him of taking actions modeled on those of the former president. Administration officials disputed this characterization.

For all of his international travels in his 50 years of public service, Biden hasn’t spent much time at the US-Mexico border.

The only visit the White House could point to was Bidens driving across the border while campaigning for president in 2008. He sent Vice President Kamala Harris to El Paso in 2021, but it was criticized for largely skirting the action, because El Paso wasn’t the crossover center it is now.

President Barack Obama took a trip to El Paso in 2011, where he visited border operations and the international bridge at Paso Del Norte, but was later criticized for not returning when tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors accompanied entered the United States from Mexico.

Trump, who has made tougher immigration a signature issue, has visited the border several times. During one visit, he crowded into a small border post to inspect money and drugs confiscated by officers. During a trip to McAllen, Texas, then at the center of a growing crisis, he made one of his most repeated claims that Mexico was paying to build a border wall.

American taxpayers ended up footing the bill after Mexican leaders flatly rejected the idea.

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