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EL PASO, Jan. 9 (AP) — President Joe Biden inspected a busy port of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday, his first visit to the area in two years in office, as Republicans blasted his Weak attitudes on border security, while migrants cross the spiral in large numbers.
Biden watched border officers in El Paso demonstrate how they search vehicles for drugs, money and other contraband. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott delivered a letter upon Biden’s arrival saying the “chaos” at the border was a “direct result” of the president’s failure to enforce federal laws, a sign of serious political tension over immigration.
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Biden planned to spend a few hours in the city, currently the largest corridor for illegal border crossings, mostly for Nicaraguans fleeing repression, crime and poverty in their home country. They are among immigrants from four countries who will now be swiftly deported under new rules enacted by the Biden administration in the past week that have drawn sharp criticism from immigration advocates.
The president met with border officials to discuss immigration and increased trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids that are contributing to a surge in overdoses in the United States
Biden plans to visit the El Paso County Immigrant Services Center and meet with nonprofits and religious groups that support immigrants arriving in the United States. It was unclear whether Biden would speak to any immigrants.
Biden’s statements on border security and his visit to the border were partly an attempt to silence political noise and blunt the impact of an upcoming immigration probe promised by House Republicans. But any lasting solution will require action from a deeply divided Congress, which has failed several times in recent years to enact sweeping changes.
From El Paso, Biden will continue south to Mexico City, where he will gather with the leaders of Mexico and Canada on Monday and Tuesday for a summit of North American leaders. Immigration was one of the items on the agenda. The challenges facing the United States on its southern border require cooperation among multiple nations, demonstrating that diplomacy is as important as domestic policy.
In El Paso, migrants congregated at bus stops and parks before departing, and Border Patrol agents ramped up security ahead of Biden’s visit.
“I think they’re trying to send a message that they’re going to check people’s record status more consistently and if you don’t get processed, they pick you up,” said Ruben Garcia of the Annunciation House aid group. El Paso.
Immigrants and asylum seekers fleeing violence and persecution are increasingly finding that in the United States, protections are available primarily to the wealthy or the savvy, who can find someone to sponsor them financially.
Jose Natera, a Venezuelan immigrant from El Paso who hopes to seek asylum in Canada, said he has no hope of finding a U.S. sponsor and is reluctant to seek asylum in the U.S. now because he fears being sent to Mexico .
Mexico “is a horrible country where you have crime, corruption, cartels, and even the police will persecute you,” he said. “They say people who want to come in illegally don’t have a chance, but at the same time I don’t have a sponsor. … I’m in this country to work. I’m not here to play.”
During Biden’s first two years in office, the number of immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border increased dramatically. In the year ended Sept. 30, more than 2.38 million parking trips were made, breaking the 2 million mark for the first time. The administration has been working hard to clamp down on the border crossing, reluctant to take tough steps similar to those of the Trump administration.
The policy change, announced last week, is Biden’s biggest move yet to curb illegal border crossings and will deny tens of thousands of migrants who arrive at the border. Meanwhile, 30,000 immigrants a month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela have the opportunity to come to the United States legally as long as they fly, get a sponsor and pass a background check.
The U.S. will also deny migrants who do not first seek asylum in countries they pass through on their way to the U.S. — a scheduled date and time.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters on Air Force One that the administration was trying to “incentivize a safe and orderly approach and cut off smuggling organizations,” saying the policies “are not at all ban” and instead seek to protect migrants from the trauma that smuggling can cause.
The changes have been welcomed by some, especially leaders in cities with high concentrations of immigrants. But Biden has been condemned by immigration advocacy groups who have accused him of taking steps that emulate those of the previous president. Administration officials dispute that characterization.
In all of Biden’s international travel during his 50 years of public service, he has spent little time at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The only visit the White House can point to is when Biden drove across the border during his 2008 presidential campaign. He sent Vice President Kamala Harris to El Paso in 2021, but she has been criticized for largely bypassing that move because El Paso is not the center of the intersection now. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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