President Biden’s visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday reflected his wishful thinking on the issue, arriving in one of the busiest border towns.
Biden is scheduled to visit Brownsville, Texas, which ranks as the 29th most trafficked city for illegal border crossers, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
Meanwhile, former President Trump has scheduled a competing border visit, but he will arrive in Eagle Pass, Texas, one of the busiest towns in the country.
Biden’s visit to Texas is an attempt to address his deep unpopularity on the issue, with recent polls showing only a minority of Americans support his handling of the border issue. It is said to be 26%.
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President Biden’s visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday reflected his wishful thinking on the issue, arriving in one of the busiest border towns. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
According to CBP data, there were just 46 encounters with migrants in Brownsville over the past five days, compared to 2,106 in Eagle Pass. The former had an average of 17 migrant encounters per day in February, while the latter had an average of 462.
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Brownsville is part of CBP’s Rio Grande Valley District, which has had 87,426 migrant encounters so far in fiscal year 2024. The Del Rio neighborhood, which includes Eagle Pass, has had 182,077 migrant encounters, but even that is far fewer than the busiest surrounding neighborhoods. Tucson, Arizona witnessed 297,380 encounters.
Asylum seekers wait to be processed by Border Patrol after crossing the Rio Grande River into the United States in Eagle Pass, Texas. (John Moore/Getty Images)
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Eagle Pass is also at the center of an ongoing standoff and legal battle between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and his administration over border-related issues, including the installation of razor wire and new anti-illegal immigration legislation.
The White House said Biden will use the trip to launch a bipartisan package that includes increasing border staffing, tightening asylum rules, tackling fentanyl smuggling and increasing funding for local communities and NGOs. He plans to once again ask Congress to pass a border agreement. He accepts immigrants. Republicans argued it fell far short of what was needed.
Former President Trump is scheduled to visit Eagle Pass, Texas, one of the busiest towns in the country. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday on Air Force One: “The President is committed to implementing bipartisan border security, the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure our borders in decades. “We will discuss the urgent need to pass the agreement in the Senate.” “He will once again call on Congressional Republicans to stop playing politics and provide needed funding for additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, more asylum workers, fentanyl detection technology, and more.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Adam Shaw contributed to this report
