US President Joe Biden visited the US-Mexico border for the first time since taking office, to tackle one of the country's most politicized issues.
President Joe Biden visited the US-Mexico border on Sunday for the first time since taking office, tackling one of the most politically charged issues in the country as he prepares for re-election bid.
Accompanied by Border Patrol agents, Biden visited a section of the wall that divides the two countries, a signature priority of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, in an effort to demonstrate that he was taking the issue seriously.
Biden said Thursday that his administration would tighten immigration enforcement by blocking
Cuban, Haitian and Nicaraguan migrants at the border are expanding the nationalities of those who could be deported back to Mexico.
But that hasn't swayed Republicans like Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who accused him of failing to enforce immigration laws.
"You have violated your constitutional obligation to protect the states against invasion through faithful execution of federal laws," Abbott, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, wrote in a letter he handed to Biden upon his arrival in the state. "
Biden told reporters that he had not yet read the letter.
Accompanied by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorcas, the President also toured the Bridge of the Americas, which connects the United States and Mexico, and viewed equipment that border officials use to detect illegal drugs.
Biden hopes to strengthen ties with Border Patrol agents, some of whom have been incensed by the White House's rollback of tougher enforcement policies.
Congress's long-term goal of reforming America's creaking immigration system is unlikely to succeed, given Republicans' newly formed control of the US House of Representatives.
Right-wing lawmakers have repeatedly rejected US immigration reform proposals over the past two decades.
Biden sent an immigration reform plan to Congress on his first day in office two years ago, but it floundered in the face of opposition from Republicans, who also blocked his request for $3.5 billion to strengthen border enforcement.
Republicans are pushing their plans for the border after securing a narrow majority in the House of Representatives in the 2022 midterm elections.
Republican US Representative Jim Jordan told Fox News that Biden should adopt the zero-tolerance policies adopted by Trump, which include separating children from their migrant parents.
"They have now allowed a situation where, frankly, we no longer have a limit," Jordan said.
Mayorkas said on Sunday that the international crisis and legislative impasse limited Biden's ability to reduce the number of migrants making their way into the United States.
"We're just dealing with a broken system," Mayorkas told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to Texas.
El Paso's Democratic mayor declared a state of emergency last month, citing hundreds of migrants sleeping on the streets in freezing temperatures and thousands more being held every day.
US border officials caught a record 2.2 million migrants at the border with Mexico in the 2022 fiscal year ending in September, although that number includes individuals who tried to cross multiple times.
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