For the first time since taking office, President Joe Biden has gone to the border between the United States and Mexico. He went to an entry point in El Paso, Texas, which is at the center of debates about smuggling and illegal immigration.
At the Bridge of the Americas checkpoint, a complex of inspection buildings and fencing that divides the two countries, he met with uniformed personnel from customs and immigration on Sunday.
Techniques for searching vehicles were demonstrated by officers, including experts in sniffer dogs.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, handed Biden a letter upon his arrival in the state that said the “chaos” at the border was a “direct result” of the president’s failure to enforce federal laws. This was a sign of the intense tensions surrounding immigration.
Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, stated to reporters that Biden was witnessing “first hand… the incredible work of US Customs and Border Protection.”
Mayorkas stated that Biden was also scheduled to visit a center for migrant support services and meet with religious and humanitarian organizations that assist “migrants fleeing oppression and economic collapse.”
Biden was flying to Mexico City for a regional summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada after a brief stop in El Paso. There, regional migration issues were expected to take center stage.
Under pressure
As the number of illegal border crossing attempts and asylum applications from perilous journeys from regional countries plagued by repression, poverty, or severe crime continues to rise, Biden is under pressure.
The rise in cross-border smuggling of the highly addictive and frequently lethal narcotic fentanyl has added to the sense of crisis.
His visit was intended to counter Republican claims that he had been ignoring the situation.
However, he is also receiving criticism from the left, with Democrats and human rights groups harshly opposing his plan to expand the expulsion of undocumented migrants from four key nations while establishing a legal route for a select few to seek entry.
While Biden was on his way to Texas, he tweeted, “Our border communities represent the best of our nation’s generosity, and we’re going to get them more support while expanding legal pathways for orderly immigration and limiting illegal immigration.”
“Drug smugglers and human traffickers before American families,” according to Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee’s chairwoman, was one of the accusations leveled against Biden.
The White House, on the other hand, stated that Biden was already beginning to gain some control over the chaotic border, but it also stated that only new laws enacted by Congress can fundamentally alter the country’s outdated immigration system as a whole.
Mayorkas stated, “We’ve very limited avenues for… dealing with a broken system.”
However, he stated that the number of illegal crossings has “dropped precipitously” from approximately 2,000 per day to 700 since a peak in the middle of December.
Source: TRT World