While it appears President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will be facing off on the ballot in November, they will also be holding dueling events on Thursday when they visit the southern border.
Biden is scheduled to appear in Brownsville, Texas, to meet with Border Patrol agents, law enforcement, and local leaders as he continues to call on Republicans to pass a bipartisan bill addressing immigration policies, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre shared on Monday.
Trump will be in Eagle Pass, Texas, more than 300 miles away from Biden, as his campaign said he would make remarks during the visit while he continues to campaign for the GOP nominee.
As for Biden’s trip, the press secretary said he would meet with Border Patrol agents to see what they do to secure the border, also noting that “they need more resources.”
The remarks from Jean-Pierre aren’t new for the Biden administration, as they continue to hammer Republicans in the House for killing a bipartisan border bill passed in the Senate.
Biden said the bill would have given him the power to shutdown the border and control the flow of migrants entering the country. However, Republicans turned their noses up at the bill, with Trump saying it would be a “disaster” for the Republican party.
But while Congress and the White House fight over legislation, Americans are growing increasingly worried about the border, with a Monmouth University poll finding that 80% see immigration as a serious problem.
Still, fighting amongst politicians continues with no clear end in sight.
Earlier this month, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, was impeached by House Republicans over his handling of the border, yet they have not put forth legislation to address the crisis.
Jean-Pierre said that Biden would “reiterate his calls for congressional Republicans to stop playing politics and to provide the funding needed for additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, fentanyl detection technology and more.”
This will be Biden’s first trip to the border in more than a year, last appearing in El Paso in January 2023.
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Trump’s campaign said the trip was a “last-minute, insincere attempt to chase” the former president there.
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