Texas Republicans described President Joe Biden’s immigration policies as reckless and criticized him for claiming that he has been too busy to visit the southern border since taking office in January.
Biden said Thursday night that he “should go down [to visit the border] but the whole point of it is I haven’t had a whole hell of a lot of time to,” during a CNN town hall. The last time Biden was near the border was when he flew into an airport in El Paso, Texas, where his motorcade took him to New Mexico for a campaign event in 2008, according to The Washington Post.
“President Biden’s reckless open border policies have created an absolute crisis along our southern border as cartels and smugglers overwhelm and divert our nation’s resources to smuggle in drugs, weapons, criminals, and other contraband,” Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s press secretary Renae Eze told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Claiming he hasn’t had time to visit the border in over 44 years in public office, including now as Commander-in-Chief charged with defending our nation’s sovereignty, is pathetic.”
“Americans deserve better,” Eze added. “While President Biden refuses to do his job and ignores the pleas for help from our border communities, Texas continues stepping up by deploying thousands of National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers to secure our border and protect Texans.”
The schedule called for wheels down around noon, an hour drive to Mesilla, NM, and later back to El Paso five hours later.
Other than a motorcade ride at times near the border, there was no specific border-related stop
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) October 22, 2021
Border officials have encountered more than 1.5 million migrants at the southern border since Biden took office in January, according to Customs and Border Protection data. Republican officials previously said the Biden administration’s immigration policies led to a rise in violent crime and cartel activity in border communities, the DCNF reported. (RELATED: Biden Says He Guesses He Should Visit Southern Border, But Notes He’s Been Busy)
“Biden could secure the border and resolve this crisis in a matter of weeks, but instead he ‘doesn’t have time’ to even visit the border of the United States — the United States he swore an oath to protect,” Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy told the DCNF. “Biden doesn’t ‘have time’ for the Americans who will die because of the more than 10,000 pounds of Fentanyl that has crossed our borders, the Americans that will have their property damaged due to illegal migrants, the ranchers who will find dead bodies in their yards and lose livestock to broken fences.”
“He doesn’t ‘have time’ for the overwhelmed federal, state and local law enforcement officers, or the migrants that will be assaulted, hurt and murdered by cartels during the journey,” Roy added. “Joe Biden doesn’t care; we know it. His dereliction is purposeful and disgusting, and Congress should be considering impeachment for both him and Secretary Mayorkas.”
It’s unclear why Biden hasn’t visited the southern border. First Lady Jill Biden made a trip to Matamoros, a Mexican border town across from Brownsville, Texas, to hand out food and gifts to children at a refugee camp in 2019, according to the Border Report.
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