Joe Biden made a stop in El Paso, Texas, on his way to a conference in Mexico. The trip was ostensibly for the president to see the border firsthand, and it was about time he made an effort to witness the chaos at the border two years into his presidency, amirite?
Yeah, about that.
The president had plenty on his El Paso agenda, but the problem is that none of those agenda items actually involved seeing the border itself. You could say that Biden went to the border-ish if you wanted to be charitable.
Bethany Blankley at The Center Square pointed out what the president did see and who he spoke with:
On his first trip to the southern border since he’s been in office, President Joe Biden met with Democratic officials in El Paso, where record apprehensions are taking place. He didn’t visit the downtown area overrun by homeless migrants, meet with local residents impacted by the surge in illegal immigration, make formal remarks or speak with reporters.
After the president arrived at the airport, reporters waited to speak with him and expressed their expectation to hear him give remarks, The Center Square observed. Several reporters continued to ask when the president might speak, expressing consternation about not being sure at what part of his three-hour planned visit they’d be able to ask questions.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) didn’t find a place on Biden’s agenda, so he made his way to the airport and patiently waited for the president to disembark from Air Force One, after which the governor handed Biden a letter outlining five ways the Biden administration could remedy the crisis at the border.
After a brief exchange with Abbott, Biden left to speak with some Democrat officials, while Abbott stuck around to talk to reporters.
Biden then went on to the Bridge of the Americas — close to the border but not close enough to see what’s really going on — where he witnessed Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents demonstrating how a dog can find drugs. I’ve witnessed a drug dog demonstration in my hometown, so I don’t see how this was particularly enlightening.
“Joining the president were Democratic U.S Reps. Veronica Escobar, Henry Cuellar and Vincente Gonzalez, the El Paso mayor and other local officials, and several CBP agents,” Blankley reports.
Later, Biden visited El Paso’s Migrant Processing Center but again didn’t speak to the media — or any Republicans that we know of. He also inspected a section of the border wall.
The president never saw the actual border firsthand, nor did he see the migrant encampments in the city of El Paso. Meanwhile, while Biden was almost at the border, the crisis continued.
BREAKING: CBP Sources tell @FoxNews that there were 518 migrant encounters in the El Paso sector in the last 24 hours yet WH pool reports indicate @POTUS did not witness any migrants at any of this three stops in El Paso yesterday
— Griff Jenkins (@GriffJenkins) January 9, 2023
Republicans have decried this trip to El Paso as a “prop visit,” a perfunctory stop on his way to Mexico that was never meant to accomplish anything or allow Biden to see what his policies have wrought. And the visit certainly had no intention of prompting any changes in administration policy.
Congratulations to President Biden for finally figuring out where the border is, two years into his presidency.
Wouldn’t have anything to do with House Republicans kicking off our border oversight plans this week, would it? https://t.co/k3b4a4QERy
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 8, 2023
President Biden’s border visit today is to a sanitized version of El Paso.
He has no plans to enforce federal immigration laws.
Biden’s plan will only entice MORE illegal crossings.
Texas will continue our historic border mission to protect our state. pic.twitter.com/UelZRg0Zts
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 8, 2023
The trip by @POTUS to El Paso is nothing but a box-checking exercise combined with propaganda… and will do nothing to stop the flood at our border because the administration does not want to – and so is refusing to. #SecureOurBorderNow https://t.co/tmV9uMhG5T
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) January 8, 2023
There are so many things Biden could have learned on this trip to El Paso, but unfortunately, the visit was all for show. And that’s a shame.
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