UPDATE: This piece has been updated to include statements from Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Sergeant Elliot Torres.
EL PASO, Texas —President Joe Biden didn’t see the illegal migrants in El Paso, Texas during his first visit to the U.S.-Mexico border Sunday.
Biden spent roughly four hours in El Paso, where hundreds of illegal migrants are sleeping and panhandling in the streets. His visit included meetings with local nongovernmental organizations aiding illegal migrants, federal law enforcement officials and local elected officials. (RELATED: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Confronts Biden Over Border Policies On The Tarmac: ‘Your Failure’)
Biden visited the El Paso County Migrant Services Center, which aids illegal migrants released from Border Patrol custody. However, he didn’t see any illegal migrants in the facility.
He also didn’t see any illegal migrants while standing on the border.
“I didn’t care which shelter he visited or which hospitality side but it was my hope that he would actually be able to see what we’re seeing on the ground at this point,” Director for the Opportunity Center for the Homeless John Martin, who accompanied Biden at the migrant center Sunday, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Federal authorities along the U.S.-Mexico border encountered a record of more than 2.3 million migrants in fiscal year 2022.
“Whether that be a visit to the rescue mission or to Sacred Heart or to our program, it really didn’t matter, but I wanted him to see it firsthand. And so I was a bit disappointed in that area,” Martin said.
Ahead of Biden’s visit, trash cans appeared outside the Sacred Heart Church, where the illegal migrants are receiving aid and protection from arrest. The illegal migrants sleeping on the streets outside of the church told the Daily Caller News Foundation that they were cleaning for the president’s arrival.
“I think we did him an injustice because whenever we clean up our streets, whenever we diminish the amount of people in our processing centers, whenever we clean things up so much that where it doesn’t see a problem, then he’s got a picture to go back to DC and tell others that there’s no issues here on the border, there’s no crisis…when just two days ago, our streets were full of illegal aliens, they were full of trash and people living in tents on our streets, our processing centers were over capacity,” Bill Jackson, a recently retired Border Patrol agent and a resident of El Paso, told the DCNF Sunday.
Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Sergeant Elliot Torres said it was his hope that the president would see the real damage illegal migration is causing on the border, during an interview along the border with the DCNF. Hours before Biden’s arrival, an illegal migrant was attacking Texas authorities.
“He was throwing stones at two of our units, he damaged a windshield on one and caused dents in the other two, so we immediately called Border Patrol, they came out, they opened up the fence, they were able to detain him and they told us that they were gonna deport him,” Torres said.
“I think he would have a different approach and mindset if he would see what we see daily and not El Paso being cleaned up because of his visit, but just a regular day that we face,” Torres added.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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