Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd told Fox News on Monday that President Joe Biden’s visit to the U.S.-Mexico border is nothing more than a “photo-op.”
Biden traveled to Mexico City on Sunday and visited the southern border for the first time Monday afternoon. He told reporters Wednesday that he wants to “see what’s going on” and hopes to witness “peace and security” amid the ongoing influx of migration.
Judd said the president only visited the points of entry where the situation is under control and did not witness the full extent of the crisis.
“He could have gone to where the apprehensions were taking place and he could’ve done it from a safe distance. But he could have seen exactly the problem that he caused. He refused to do that,” Judd said. “Again, he knew that the mainstream media was gonna come down there.”
“He wanted to give the mainstream media a version of what he wanted, to paint the picture that he wanted for the American public,” the border patrol union leader continued. “And by doing that, the American public says, ‘Oh look, there’s nothing going on.’ It’s amazing — when I travel around the country — it’s amazing how few people actually know what’s going on on the border.”
“Unless the mainstream media calls him out, unless the political watchdogs are where they need to be, we’re just not going to get a full scope of what’s going on on the border,” he added.
He added that the president did not provide transparency to the American people about the current conditions at the border.
“It was all for a photoshoot, it was a photo-op, and nothing more than that,” Judd said.
He then criticized Democrats for putting in little effort to secure the border for failing to focus on the “safety and security” of the country. Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal told MSNBC Sunday that Republicans were trying to “villainize” illegal immigrants who enter the country for entering the country “for a better life.” (RELATED: Border Patrol Union Chief Open To Amnesty For ‘Dreamers’ As Senators Prep Immigration Bill)
“[Democrats] don’t want to do anything about [the migration crisis],” Judd responded after Fox News host John Roberts played the clip of Jayapal. Judd then added that the Border Patrol Council has “supported Democrats in the past” and is “not a political organization.”
“What we care about is we care about the safety and security of the American people,” he said. “The safety and security of our homeland. That’s what we care about. It’s not political football talking about immigrants. We’re talking about illegal immigration. We support legal immigration. The vast majority of the American people support legal immigration. This is illegal immigration, and unfortunately Congresswoman Jayapal refuses to address that issue.”
Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Veronica Escobar of Texas both emphasized in Sunday interviews that the situation at the border is a crisis and that the Biden administration should do more to address it. Roberts played clips from both interviews during his segment with Judd.
In December, Democratic Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar similarly pleaded with Biden to visit the border and witness the crisis firsthand.