Topline
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump made competing visits to the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday, railing against one another as tensions flare over a surge in migrants at the southern border, an issue both candidates have made a priority in the lead-up to a likely presidential rematch.
Key Facts
Biden, a target of Republican scorn over illegal border crossings, met with Border Patrol agents and law enforcement in Brownsville, Texas, a major border crossing and a focal point of an escalating debate over immigration, amid a record surge of migrant crossings.
Trump, meanwhile, is visiting the Texas border city of Eagle Pass, the site of another flashpoint in the immigration debate, where the former president blamed Biden for “allowing thousands and thousands of people to come” into the country, while claiming Biden is responsible for an increase in “migrant crime.”
Trump also invoked the murder of Georgia university student Laken Riley, whose suspected killer was identified as an undocumented Venezuelan migrant, and whose murder has become a rallying cry among Republicans in their criticism of Biden, with several House Republicans arguing Biden’s “border and immigration policies only increase the likelihood that criminal aliens will successfully enter and remain in the U.S.”
The suspected killer in that murder—Jose Ibarra—had illegally crossed the southern border into Texas before his arrest by Customs and Border Protection in September 2022, though he was released as his immigration case was processed.
Crucial Quote
“They’re coming from jails, they’re coming from prisons, they’re coming from mental institutions, they’re coming from insane asylums, and they’re terrorists getting let into our country,” Trump said in Eagle Pass, a familiar argument to his controversial claims in the 2016 presidential campaign, when Trump argued migrants from Mexico were “bringing drugs” and “crime,” saying: “They’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.”
Key Background
The dueling speeches come as tensions flare over immigration reform, and after Republicans shot down a bipartisan border bill backed by Biden that would have created stricter requirements for asylum seekers if daily border crossings exceeded a threshold of 5,000 crossings per day. If approved, that bill would have also provided foreign aid to Israel and Ukraine. Trump called that legislation “stupid” and a “monstrosity” in his successful plea for Republicans to oppose it, even after Republicans for months held up aid to Ukraine, arguing the only bill they would only pass is one that also included immigration reform to address the surge in migrants at the border. House Speaker Mike Johnson, (R-La.), sided with Trump on the Senate bill, calling it “likely dead on arrival” in the House. Biden later laid out plans to invoke the president’s executive authority to limit asylum seekers at the border, though that plan drew heavy GOP pushback, even after Republicans called on Biden to issue an executive order for border restrictions. While Biden did not formally announce the order, the executive action reportedly would have limited asylum at the southern border, a major Republican talking point. Biden blamed the GOP for effectively blocking the plan.
Contra
In his speech in Brownsville, Biden said Border Patrol agents “desperately need more resources,” including agents to secure the border and immigration judges to speed up a backlog of cases, arguing “it’s long since time to act.” Biden urged Congress to reconsider the border bill and to “pass it on the merits,” arguing “the majority of Democrats and Republicans” both supported it “until someone came along and said ‘don’t do this it’ll benefit the incumbent,’” adding: “That’s a hell of a way to do business in this country.”
Big Number
3.2 million. That’s how many migrants were taken into custody nationwide in 2023, including 2.4 million at the southern border alone, according to Customs and Border Protection. That surpasses the more than 2.7 million encounters nationwide in 2022 and the 1.9 million the year before.
Further Reading
Why Biden Can’t Easily ‘Shut Down The Border’—As Both He And Trump Have Suggested (Forbes)
Trump And Biden Plan Dueling Border Visits: Both Plan Texas Visits Thursday (Forbes)
