HEBRON, Ky. – President Joe Biden is expected to visit the US-Mexico border – his first trip there since taking office – in connection with his meeting next week in Mexico City with the leaders of Mexico and Canada.
“That’s my hope, we’re working on the details,” Biden told reporters Wednesday on a trip to Kentucky.
Biden said on his return to the White House that he expected to see “what’s going on” at the border and also planned to make comments about border security on Thursday.
There has been a sharp increase in the number of migrants at the border even as the US public health law remains in place allowing US authorities to turn away more people seeking asylum. in the United States. Republican leaders have criticized the president for policies they say are ineffective in border security and have questioned why he hasn’t made a trip there.
The increased focus from Biden on the border also comes as the president prepares for 2024 re-election. Its only popular rival, Donald Trump, rose to the top of the GOP by wooing the party’s base voters with his difficult immigration conditions.
But there was praise on Wednesday after the news.
“I’m glad President Biden will finally visit our southern border – which is already given over to smugglers, smugglers, and human traffickers,” tweeted Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has been a critic of the policy.
Among the criticisms on border protection by Republicans is the amount of fentanyl that is coming to the US through Mexico. A 2022 report from two federal commissions found that fentanyl and other drugs are being manufactured in Mexican laboratories from drugs shipped from China.
And fentanyl and other home-grown synthetic drugs are fueling a crisis that is deadlier than any the US has seen. But politicians and experts say that drug enforcement that relies on border security is dangerous and likely ineffective. Drugs are easily transported in small, hard-to-detect particles.
The drug trade and immigration are expected to be top topics at the meeting on Monday and Tuesday when Biden hosts the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
At the start of his presidency, Biden placed Vice President Kamala Harris in charge of the White House’s efforts to address the immigration challenge by working with Central American governments to address the root causes of the problem. He visited El Paso, Texas, in June 2021 and was criticized for choosing a location so far from the center of border crossings that it strained government resources. The number of migrants crossing the border has increased.
For now, the Supreme Court is upholding the Trump-era restrictions, often referred to as Title 42, which refers to the 1944 public health law, after Biden made the repeal. and Republicans sued in response. Title 42 was used to stop the spread of COVID-19, but there were still complaints that the restrictions were used by Trump to seal the border.
Biden did not offer any specific changes to manage the increase in immigration after the health restrictions. And the president is limited to what he can do without changes to immigration laws. But in Congress, two federal immigration bills were buried before Republicans took control of the House.
Biden made his announcement about the upcoming border visit during a stop in Kentucky at a bridge that will receive federal funds under the bipartisan infrastructure law.
Trump visited the US side of the border as president several times, including one trip to McAllen, Texas, where he said Mexico would pay for the wall. neighbors
American taxpayers ultimately paid the price. Mexican leaders rejected the idea after Trump quickly encouraged them. “NO,” Enrique Peña Nieto, then president of Mexico, tweeted in May 2018. “Mexico will not pay for a wall.
