U.S. President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, his probable Republican rival in the November election, engaged in simultaneous visits to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, with the surge of immigrants emerging as a pivotal concern for voters.
Biden, who has faced scrutiny on the matter in recent months, aimed to censure Republican lawmakers during his trip to the border town of Brownsville, Texas, for rebuffing a bipartisan initiative to strengthen immigration policies after Trump dissuaded them from passing it, thereby denying Biden a policy triumph.
Biden received briefings from border patrol agents, strolled along the Rio Grande river dividing Brownsville and Mexico, and is scheduled to deliver remarks later.
Trump, poised to contend with Biden in what polls anticipate as a tight election on November 5, was briefed by officials alongside Texas Governor Greg Abbott at the river before addressing a gathering at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, accompanied by officials.
“This is a Biden invasion over the past three years,” Trump asserted, exemplifying the escalatingly incendiary rhetoric he has employed to characterise the border issue and criticise his adversary’s policies.
Hundreds of Trump supporters congregated on street corners in an area overseeing Shelby Park, which has been repurposed to impede illegal migrant crossings, brandishing “Make America Great Again” and “Never Surrender” flags.
Upon assuming office in 2021, Biden pledged to reverse Trump’s stringent immigration policies but subsequently toughened his own stance.
Under pressure from Republicans who accuse him of faltering on border control, Biden urged Congress last year to allocate more funding for enforcement and stated his readiness to “shut down the border” if empowered to turn back migrants.
The White House is also contemplating utilising executive authority to restrict more migrants from seeking asylum at the border, according to a knowledgeable source.
Biden was accompanied by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whom Republican lawmakers narrowly voted to impeach over his border management.
The Democratic-controlled Senate is unlikely to vote for Mayorkas’s removal from office.
“This visit is centred on our operational efforts, not the rhetoric of others,” Mayorkas informed reporters on Air Force One.
Trump, whose presidency from 2017 to early 2021 prioritised a tough border stance, will assail Biden for mishandling border issues.
Eagle Pass has witnessed a significant influx of border-crossers in recent months, presenting a major challenge for authorities.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a morning speech on Thursday, sought to attribute the failure of the border deal to Trump.
“When Donald Trump goes in front of the cameras to lament the mess at the border, he should look in the mirror,” Schumer remarked.
The concern over immigration is on the rise among voters, as indicated by a Reuters-Ipsos poll from January 31, with 17% of respondents citing it as the most pressing issue facing the U.S., up markedly from 11% in December.
Among Republican respondents, it was the top concern, with 36% listing it as their primary worry, surpassing the 29% who prioritised the economy.
Some Democrats disclosed to Reuters their inclination towards Trump in Maverick County near the border, a rare Democratic stronghold in the predominantly Republican state of Texas.
“I don’t like what’s happening in our borders,” remarked Asalia Casares, 52, a lifelong Democrat, who indicated she would likely vote for Trump in November.
Abbott, a Republican, accompanied Trump on his visit. His administration has been constructing a military “base camp” at Eagle Pass to deter migrants.
Despite a significant decrease in the number of migrants apprehended crossing illegally into both Eagle Pass and Brownsville in January and February, Eagle Pass remains a focal point in the contentious partisan discourse over border security.
A federal judge in Texas on Thursday halted the state’s new law granting officials broad powers to arrest, prosecute, and expel individuals who illegally cross the border.
The monthly count of migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally reached a record 250,000 in December but halved in January, a trend attributed by U.S. officials to heightened Mexican enforcement and seasonal patterns. U.S. Border Patrol had over 50% of its capacity available in both areas on Monday.
Abbott, deploying thousands of National Guard troops and installing concertina wire and river buoys through Operation Lone Star, has provoked legal and political confrontations with the Biden administration and immigrant rights activists, given that immigration enforcement traditionally falls under federal jurisdiction.