White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden “recently” visited the U.S.-Mexico border over a year ago at Monday’s briefing.
Biden visited the border during his Jan. 8, 2023, trip to El Paso, Texas, as migrant apprehensions exceeded one million amid an ongoing dire crisis. The press secretary suggested that Biden does not need to schedule another visit to the border following the almost 2.5 million apprehensions in the 2023 fiscal year, and an additional 483,000 in the 2024 fiscal year thus far.
“Biden admitted Friday that the border isn’t secure. Does he have any plans to visit the southern border before the election?” Daily Caller White House correspondent Reagan Reese asked.
“The president visited the border recently,” Jean-Pierre said.
“In January 2023,” Reese said.
“Yep, that was a year ago. He’s been there,” the press secretary said.
Reese then asked “how bad” does the border crisis have to be for Biden to return to the border. She pointed to apprehensions exceeding 300,000 in December 2023, marking the highest number on record. (RELATED: Karine Jean-Pierre Calls Border Crisis ‘Not Unusual’ As Record Numbers Of Migrants Cross Into US)
“So, just to reiterate what I said seconds ago, the president has been to the border,” the press secretary said. “He’s visited the border. He saw for himself. He spoke to law enforcement. He saw exactly what goes on at the border. The president understands what’s going on at the border, which is why he included it in his national security supplemental — which is again a request when you feel like there’s an emergency, you make that supplemental request — which is what the president did. It included border security. It included obviously Ukraine and Israel, and it is incredibly important.”
“Which is why he continues to push for it, and you’re seeing those conversations happen in the Senate in a bipartisan way, a bipartisan agreement and the president’s very thankful to that,” she continued.
The president met with congressional leaders to discuss a national security supplemental to “address the challenges at the border” through “bipartisan negotiations,” according to a White House press release. The president “expressed his commitment” to securing a “bipartisan agreement” on border policy and additional resources.
The White House claimed that House Republicans’ visit to the border in early January made the border crisis worse. House Speaker Mike Johnson and a group of 60 Republican representatives traveled to Eagle Pass, Texas, to address the border crisis before having reached a deal on Biden’s national security supplemental or any funding for overseas wars.