A historic visit to the southern border is putting the migrant crisis front and center: the Biden administration wants $20 billion to stem the tide of migration while former President Trump is accusing President Biden of allowing migrant crossings to go unchecked.
"The operation that they showed me is nothing less than incredible," said Trump during a speech in Eagle Pass, Texas. "It's a military operation – we have a military… this is like a war."
Illegal border crossings are at a record high with 2.2 million apprehensions in 2023, roughly 250,000 in December alone – a new monthly record. During his visit to Eagle Pass, sometimes called "illegal Pass", Trump placed the blame for the crisis squarely on the current president.
"But this is a Joe Biden invasion," Trump said. "This is a Biden invasion over the past three years. I call him crooked Joe because he's a terrible president, the worst president we've ever had."
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Three hundred miles away, in Brownsville, TX, President Biden called on Trump to rally Republicans on Capitol Hill to help pass a bipartisan bill worth more than $20 billion, to finally crack down on border crossings and fund needed resources. The bill is being blocked by the overwhelming majority of GOP senators, once they saw what it said.
"Here's what I would say to Mr. Trump: 'Instead of playing politics with this issue, instead of telling Congress to block this legislation, join me—or I'll join you—in telling Congress to pass this bipartisan border security bill,'" said Biden.
Biden expressed much-needed help for the overwhelmed U.S. Border Patrol.
"They desperately need more resources," Biden said. "They need more agents, more officers, more judges, more equipment in order to secure our border."
Conservatives point out the President has worked to repeal Trump's border policies in exchange for what Biden called more humane ones, specifically ending the 'Remain-in-Mexico' policy and others. And Thursday, Trump talked about how Georgia student Laken Riley appears to have been killed by an illegal immigrant – and other criminal actions by migrants who are in the U.S. illegally.
President Biden talks with the U.S. Border Patrol in Brownsville while Donald Trump greets members of Texas Department of Public Safety in Eagle Pass (AP Photos/Evan Vucci/Eric Gay)
"And then I spoke to the parents of an incredible young lady. And you... you saw her the other day. You saw what happened the other day in Georgia. And the parents are devastated," said Trump.
In a new NBC poll, 57% of registered voters say Trump would do a better job of securing the border, compared to 22% for Biden.
Meanwhile, as Trump and Biden talked about the border crisis, a federal judge blocked a new Texas law that would give police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S. The Texas Attorney General's office reportedly appealed the ruling immediately.
The Biden administration's approach to this crisis is once again under fire from Republicans after the White House referred to illegal immigrants as "newcomers."
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