President Biden is set to make a significant visit to the southern border on Thursday, coinciding with a planned trip by former President Trump to the same region.
Biden’s itinerary includes a stop in Brownsville, Texas, where he will engage with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement officials, and local leaders, as disclosed by a White House official.
Simultaneously, Trump is slated to deliver a speech in Eagle Pass, Texas, as confirmed by Fox News.
The chosen locations of Brownsville and Eagle Pass are approximately 325 miles apart, with a drive time of roughly 5 hours and 20 minutes.
During his visit, Biden is anticipated to emphasize the necessity of passing the Senate’s bipartisan border security agreement. The White House official emphasized that the President will renew his call for Congressional Republicans to prioritize funding for additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, enhanced asylum officer resources, technology for detecting fentanyl, and other critical measures.
Recent analysis by Fox News indicates that nearly 7.3 million migrants have unlawfully crossed the southwest border since Biden assumed office, surpassing the population of 36 individual states. The figures, sourced from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), underscore a significant surge, with 961,537 border encounters reported in the current fiscal year alone. If this trend persists, fiscal year 2024 is poised to surpass the previous year’s record-breaking 2,475,669 southwest border encounters, a figure surpassing the population of New Mexico, a border state.
CBP data further reveals that the total number of southwest land border encounters since Biden’s inauguration in 2021 stands at 7,298,486.
Eagle Pass finds itself embroiled in an ongoing dispute and legal battle between Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Biden administration. Last month, the Justice Department sought Supreme Court intervention to compel Texas to grant Border Patrol agents access to Shelby Park in Eagle Pass. Texas National Guard troops have erected barriers, including razor wire and shipping containers, to deter illegal border crossings.
In response to the stalemate, the Department of Homeland Security has urged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to ensure unrestricted park access, particularly during emergency situations.
Insights from U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources indicate a notable shift in illegal border crossings from Texas to Arizona and California, where deterrent measures are perceived to be less stringent.
