President Joe Biden has been criticized by both conservative and progressive immigration experts for not visiting the southern border during his trip to Arizona this week.
The White House schedule states that Biden will visit Phoenix to discuss his economic initiatives, but makes no mention of a stop at the border, which is just over 100 miles away.
This is despite the fact that illegal immigration and human trafficking are on the rise and large quantities of fentanyl are entering the U.S. illegally.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has claimed that “he’s been there,” but it is unclear if she is referring to trips Biden made to the border before becoming president. Officials did not respond to a request for information about when Biden supposedly visited the border.
Former President Donald Trump visited the border on five occasions as president. Tom Homan, the former director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump, said Biden’s refusal to visit the border is a betrayal to agents who put their lives at risk to enforce his policies.
“If Biden does not visit the border while in Arizona and talk to the men and women who risk their lives every day during a historic border security crisis, then he will show he has truly abandoned the agency that works 24/7 to keep this country safe,” Homan told Fox News Digital.
“What kind of commander-in-chief abandons those on the front line because of politics? The fact is, Joe Biden won’t visit the border because he doesn’t want to be confronted with the reality of the destruction his policies have caused.”
This criticism of Biden’s lack of focus on the southern border has frustrated progressive groups as well. Alexandra Miller, the director of the Immigration Justice Campaign for the American Immigration Council, said Biden needs to witness the impact of his cruel federal immigration policies.
Border encounters between U.S. law enforcement and illegal crossers hit a record yearly high under the Biden administration in 2021 at 1.7 million, and it has already hit a new high this year at 2.3 million.
Border agents have been able to turn these migrants away under Title 42 — a pandemic-inspired policy established by the Trump administration that is set to expire this month.
Biden administration officials predict that record-high border encounters may double without Title 42 and reportedly may adopt a near-identical policy that allows them to turn away migrants if they are able to gain refuge in a country they passed through to get to the U.S. border.
Gene Hamilton, the vice president of America First Legal and a former senior counselor to the secretary of Homeland Security, said the U.S. is experiencing an unprecedented border crisis that is overlooked by its leader.
President Biden’s absence from the border on this trip shows his complete disregard for the crisis at hand. His commitment to failure, open borders, and a weakened United States is clear.
He continues to ignore the law, the Constitution, and his oath of office. The safety of the American people must come first, and that means taking the crisis at the border seriously. It’s time for Biden to step up and take action before it’s too late.”
