Trump and Biden will travel to the US-Mexico border on separate occasions on Thursday.
On Thursday, when former President Donald Trump is also anticipated to visit the southern border, President Joe Biden will make an uncommon trip to the U.S.-Mexico border.
The White House released a statement saying, “Biden will travel to Brownsville, Texas to meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement officials, and local leaders.”
“He will discuss the urgent need to pass the Senate bipartisan border security agreement, the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border in decades,” added the statement. “He will reiterate his calls for Congressional Republicans to stop playing politics and to provide the funding needed for additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, fentanyl detection technology and more.”
NBC News was informed by two people who are aware of Trump’s preparations that he would make his speech near Eagle Pass, Texas, which is around 330 miles away from Biden’s trip.
Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary for the Trump campaign, stated in a statement that Biden is being sent to the border by the White House because she believed he was “losing terribly” in the 2024 election. “Biden’s last-minute, insincere attempt to chase President Trump to the border won’t cut it,” she stated.
Following a Monday campaign gathering in New York, Biden gave reporters an update on his travel schedule, saying, “I’ve been planning on going Thursday.”
He went on, mentioning Trump, “What I didn’t know is my good friend is apparently going.”
When asked if he would be meeting with migrants while on the trip, Biden refused to say.
January 2023 was Biden’s most recent visit to the border and his first as president.
His infrequent trip to the southern border coincides with attacks on his administration’s management of immigrants entering the country from Republicans and President Trump.
As GOP candidates intensify their assaults on the president and Democrats, immigration will undoubtedly be a major topic in the upcoming general election season. Biden has chastised Republicans for not passing legislation to handle the flood of migrants.
According to a January News survey, 22% of registered voters thought Biden would be better at guarding the border, while 57% of registered voters said Trump would. According to the same poll, 48% of respondents said they would trust Biden to treat immigrants humanely, compared to 31% who felt the same way about Trump.
The bipartisan border security and foreign aid plan, which included Sen. James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, as a major negotiator, was destroyed earlier this month by Senate Republicans. After considerable pressure from Trump, Republicans eventually opted to torpedo the plan.
The GOP-controlled House barely impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border in a 214-213 vote, sending Senate Republicans packing and dashing any expectations for substantive congressional action to alleviate the situation at the border.