As an immigration crisis along the nation’s southern border continues to rage unchecked by the Biden administration, Republicans nationwide have criticized the president for refusing to visit the area in person throughout his first two years in office.
Reports this week indicate that President Joe Biden is prepared to finally give his critics what they have been demanding since the earliest days of his term. Ahead of a planned trip to Mexico City, the White House confirmed that he plans to visit the U.S.-Mexico border.
During a campaign event in Kentucky on Wednesday, Biden fielded a reporter’s question on the topic.
When asked whether he would be “going to the border” during the upcoming trip, he replied: “That’s my intention.”
The president went on to tease additional remarks that he would make on the subject later in the week but offered a broad overview of his plan.
Upon arriving back at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, a reporter asked him what he hoped to see when he arrived at the border.
“Peace and security,” he said. “No, I’m going to see what is going on. I’m going to be making a speech tomorrow on border security and you’ll hear more about it tomorrow.”
Biden’s critics have portrayed him as largely disinterested in the border crisis despite having weakened or repealed policies put in place under the Trump administration that kept illegal immigration down.
Instead of accepting responsibility for the situation, the White House has sought to place the blame on the GOP.
In a statement last month, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed: “We continue to see political stunts from many Republicans out there and that’s not how we’re going to fix this issue. They want to secure the border; we’ve been doing that work on our own and we’re asking them to, hey, you know what? There’s an immigration reform plan that the president put out on the first day. They should work with us and do this in a bipartisan way.”
Karine Jean-Pierre: "[Republicans] want to secure the border. We've been doing that work on our own." pic.twitter.com/aVbz3gLuis
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 15, 2022
Republican National Committee spokesperson Tommy Pigott was one of many GOP officials who assailed the White House talking points, insisting that if the president “actually went to the border, he would know his administration is lying when they say the border is secure.”
