Criticized for loosening border enforcement and leading to record number of illegal crossings Biden’s first visit to US-Mexico border since taking office
US President Joseph Biden toured the border city of El Paso, Texas on the 8th, watched border guards demonstrate the security check process, and visited an immigration service center, but he did not see any illegal immigrants there.
It was Biden’s first visit to the U.S. southern border with Mexico in his two years in office. Republicans have criticized the Democratic president for loosening border enforcement, which has led to a record number of illegal crossings.
no immigrants
In El Paso, after watching border agents demonstrate how to search passing vehicles for possible stashes of drugs, cash and other contraband, Biden walked down a street lined with abandoned buildings along the road that separates El Paso from the Mexican city of Juarez. Its metal border fence is gone. His last stop was the El Paso County Immigrant Service Center, but he did not see any of the illegal immigrants housed there.
According to the Associated Press, Biden’s trip to the border took nearly 4 hours and he was “tightly monitored” the entire time. He did not go to the border patrol station where illegal passers-by were arrested and detained, and he did not come into contact with any immigrants. As his convoy drove along the border, he could see a dozen immigrants standing on the Juárez side .
According to the report, this trip appears to be aimed at demonstrating the smooth functioning of various tasks at the border, including legal immigration procedures, confiscation of contraband and humane treatment of illegal border workers, in order to refute the “crisis of border”. who calls the Republican Party.
In places where Biden has not set foot, hundreds of illegal immigrants camped in front of an El Paso church on the 8th, with three meals a day provided by religious groups and humanitarian aid organizations.
El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, a member of the local delegation who greeted Biden, said it was good for Biden to visit, but he “failed to see the real difficulty.”
The Republican Party will not stop attacking Biden’s immigration policies. Upon arriving in Texas, Biden received a letter from Republican Governor Greg Abbott. The “chaos” at the border is a “direct result” of Biden failing to enforce federal laws, the letter said.
It was criticized for “spectacle”
Republican Kevin McCarthy, who was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives immediately after 15 rounds of voting, said Biden’s border inspection was nothing more than “arranging a media photo for publicity.”
He wrote on social media Twitter that the Biden administration “has created the most dangerous border crisis in American history,” and the Republican Party, which holds a lead in the House of Representatives, will hold him accountable.
The Associated Press believes Biden recently announced new border security measures and arranged a border visit itinerary, in part to offset the impact of Republican lawmakers preparing to launch investigations.
On the 5th, Biden warned illegal immigrants “not to show up casually at the (US) border”, and at the same time announced that he could receive a total of up to 30,000 legal immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela each month.
The Biden administration is reluctant to replicate former Republican President Donald Trump’s tough measures on illegal immigration. During his two years in office, the number of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border increased dramatically.
In the 2022 fiscal year ended September 30 of last year, US law enforcement intercepted more than 2.38 million illegal immigrants at the Mexican border.
According to Reuters, numerous opinion polls show that Americans give Biden a “failure” in terms of immigration policy. Judging by the average results of multiple polls collected by the “Really Transparent Politics” website, fewer than 37% of people approve of Biden’s performance in addressing immigration issues, which is lower than his overall public support rate. (According to Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 9)
