Joe Biden and Donald Trump trade blame at US border in duelling election-year visits
- Trump described an influx of immigrants as a ‘Biden invasion’, while the US president criticised Republican lawmakers for rejecting a bipartisan border deal
- Biden has been on the defensive on the issue, and has said he would ‘shut down the border’ if given new authority by Congress
US President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, his likely Republican opponent in the November election, made duelling visits to the US-Mexico border on Thursday as an influx of immigrants has become a dominant issue for voters.
Biden, who has been on the defensive on the matter in recent months, was in the border town of Brownsville, Texas, where he criticised Republican lawmakers for rejecting a bipartisan effort to toughen immigration policies after Trump told them not to pass it and give Biden a policy victory.
“They desperately need more resources,” Biden said after being briefed by border patrol agents and walking alongside the Rio Grande river that separates Brownsville and Mexico.
“Here’s what I would say to Mr Trump … instead of telling members of Congress to block this legislation, join me, or I’ll join you, in telling the Congress to pass this bipartisan security bill,” he added, saying his proposed measures would speed up the asylum process and deter crossings.
Trump, who looks set to face Biden in what polls predict will be a close election on November 5, was briefed by officials with Texas Governor Greg Abbott at the river before speaking at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, flanked by officials.
“This is a Biden invasion over the past three years,” Trump said, in an example of the increasingly inflammatory language he has used to describe the border issue and slam his rival’s policies.
Several hundred Trump supporters gathered on street corners in an area overlooking Shelby Park, an area that has been commandeered to block migrants crossing illegally, carrying “Make America Great Again” and “Never Surrender” flags.
Biden took office in 2021 promising to reverse the hardline immigration policies of Trump, but has since toughened his own approach.
Under pressure from Republicans who accuse him of failing to control the border, Biden called on Congress last year to provide more enforcement funding and said he would “shut down the border” if given new authority to turn back migrants.
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The White House is also considering using executive authority to deny more migrants asylum at the border, a source familiar with the matter has said.
Biden was joined by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who Republican lawmakers have narrowly voted to impeach over his handling of the border. The Democratic-led Senate is unlikely to vote to remove Mayorkas from office.
“This visit is focused on the work that we do, not the rhetoric of others,” Mayorkas told reporters on Air Force One.
Trump, who as president from 2017 to early 2021 considered a tough border stance to be a signature issue for him, will be on the offence in accusing Biden of bungling border issues.
Eagle Pass is where border-crossers have posed a major problem for authorities in recent months.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a speech on Thursday morning sought to blame Trump for the failure of the border deal.
“When Donald Trump goes in front of the cameras to lament the mess at the border, he should look in the mirror,” Schumer said.
A Reuters-Ipsos poll from January 31 found rising concern among Americans about immigration, with 17 per cent of respondents listing it as the most important problem facing the US today, up sharply from 11 per cent in December.
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It was the top concern of Republican respondents, with 36 per cent citing it as their main worry, above the 29 per cent who cited the economy.
Some Democrats said they were turning toward Trump in Maverick County near the border, a rare Democratic stronghold in the majority Republican state of Texas.
“I don’t like what’s happening in our borders,” said Asalia Casares, 52, a lifelong Democrat, who said she would probably vote for Trump in November.
Trump was joined on his visit by Governor Abbott, whose administration has been building a military “base camp” at Eagle Pass to deter migrants. Eagle Pass remains a flashpoint in a heated partisan debate over border security even though the number of migrants caught crossing illegally into both there and Brownsville dropped sharply in January and February.
A federal judge in Texas on Thursday blocked the state’s new law giving officials broad powers to arrest, prosecute and order the removal of people who illegally cross the border.
The number of migrants caught crossing the US-Mexico border illegally hit a monthly record of 250,000 in December but dropped by half in January, a trend US officials attribute to increased Mexican enforcement and seasonal trends.
US Border Patrol on Monday had more than 50 per cent of its capacity available in both areas.
Abbott, a Republican, has deployed thousands of National Guard troops and laid concertina wire and river buoys to deter illegal immigration through a programme called Operation Lone Star.
Immigration enforcement historically has been the purview of the federal government, and Abbott’s actions have sparked legal and political stand-offs with the Biden administration and immigrant rights activists.
