# Biden pledges help during border visit that GOP dismissed as 'fake photo op'

He has had 2 years to fix the mess and HELP. Not sure the country can stand anymore Biden HELP!

by Anna Giaritelli, Homeland Security Reporter |

January 08, 2023 08:17 PM

EL PASO, Texas — President Joe Biden walked away from his inaugural visit to the U.S.-Mexico border vowing to send federal law enforcement the help needed — a claim that Republicans tore apart as feigned interest.

Biden spent three hours in El Paso, where he met with various immigrant rights advocates at a county-run shelter, learned how federal officers at the ports of entry inspect vehicles for contraband or illegal immigrants concealed in vehicles, and heard from Border Patrol agents responding to more illegal immigrant encounters in El Paso than ever before.

“They need a lot of resources. We’re going to get it for them,” Biden told reporters during the visit.

President Joe Biden tours El Paso port of entry, Bridge of the Americas, a busy port of entry along the border, in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023.

Despite traveling to a region that has become the epicenter of the southern border crisis in recent months, Biden did not tour government facilities where immigrants are held and processed after crossing illegally. He rounded out the visit with a 40-minute stop by the El Paso County Migrant Services Center, where immigrants who have been let out of federal custody can make travel arrangements and get a free meal and place to rest.

The facility was fairly empty, according to a report from the White House press pool that accompanied Biden. The president’s visit comes as the number of immigrants arrested has dropped back down to normal levels, leaving little for Biden to see about how the monthslong surge had affected the city.

“Since the peak in December of 2,000 [immigrants encountered at the border] a day, it’s now — I believe the most recent figure was 700,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters aboard Air Force One on the flight from Washington.

INSIDE FOUR LOCATIONS OF EL PASO’S BORDER CRISIS THAT JOE BIDEN WILL BYPASS

Biden spent just several minutes of the afternoon in the company of Border Patrol agents and walking several steps along a portion of the border wall with agents.

The quick meeting came hours after Biden administration officials told reporters during his flight that it had surged 100 additional Border Patrol agents from other regions to El Paso and planned to open a new series of tents as an overflow facility when existing facilities cannot hold immigrants in custody.

President Joe Biden walks along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023.

Biden did not visit areas downtown where immigrants have lived on the streets since last summer or see immigrants crossing the Rio Grande, largely due to Mexico’s significantly stepping up security efforts preventing people from getting to the river, according to videos of the security forces.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), whose district neighbors El Paso and includes 800 miles of borderland, said the visit was a step in the right direction but “two years too late.”

Since Biden took office in January 2021, approximately 5 million immigrants have been encountered attempting to enter the U.S. without authorization, far beyond the total of former President Barack Obama’s eight years.

“Instead of seeing tent camps or learning about security breaches, President Biden briefly saw a manicured version of our border crisis,” Gonzales said in a statement to the Washington Examiner Sunday afternoon. “If he truly wanted an accurate picture, he would have met with law enforcement on the front lines or constituents who deal with the fallout of illegal immigration on a daily basis.”

The White House invited only Democratic border lawmakers from Texas on the trip, including Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar, the party’s biggest critic of Biden’s handling of immigration issues. Progressive Rep. Veronica Escobar, a former county judge who took over Beto O’Rourke’s seat in the city, also joined Biden.

Seven city and county officials joined Biden, the three congresspeople, community business owners, and three Department of Homeland Security representatives for a photo op at the Bridge of the Americas port of entry.

At the bridge, Biden was given an in-depth look at how officers screen commercial and pedestrian traffic, including five demonstrations that involved K-9 units, X-ray screening equipment, and handheld devices that can detect people, drugs, and other contraband that people try to move across the border.

Republicans have repeatedly blamed the White House for the immigration crisis, linking Biden’s walking back of Trump administration policies at the border to the influx of illegal immigrants attempting to cross. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel launched her own rival border trip on Sunday in which she called out Biden’s “fake photo op.” Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott handed Biden a letter as he stepped off Air Force One in El Paso, blasting his “failure to enforce the immigration laws.”

Brad Bannon runs a political polling and consulting firm that works with labor unions, progressive issue groups, and Democratic candidates and said the trip was a solid step forward by Democrats as Republicans were busy grappling over internal issues.

“The president is showing a willingness to solve the big problems facing the U.S. while the Republicans are too busy tackling each other,” Bannon wrote in a text message. “He will offer some kind of compromise solution that House Republicans will reject out of hand.”

Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican operative in Texas and partner at Austin-based public affairs firm Steinhauser Strategies, said the trip was likely prompted by growing media coverage of the “undeniable” crisis and was advised to make an effort to look like he was addressing it.

“At this point, he kind of has to go to the border,” said Steinhauser in a phone call after Biden’s visit. “Most Americans are aware of it — have developed opinions about it. It’s almost as if he could not afford to skip the border."

Last week, Biden announced a toughening of U.S. immigration policies in an effort to deter immigrants from making the journey to the U.S. on the basis that they would not be allowed to remain in the U.S. The move came after the Biden administration allowed 1.5 million illegal immigrants to be released into the U.S. Seeking asylum is not a requirement for release.

“You can’t just ignore the issues anymore," Steinhauser said.

The White House announced the Texas trip on Thursday as an additional stop before Biden’s planned travel to Mexico Sunday for the North American Leaders’ Summit. With the House of Representatives in disarray due to a prolonged GOP speakership fight not seen since before the Civil War, Biden capitalized on the political moment to take the lead on immigration issues.

Gonzalez was critical of his Democratic and Republican peers in Congress after the visit and shared a view of the “unprecedented influx of migrants” that fell more in line with Cuellar’s moderate views than those of Escobar.

“Both Republicans and Democrats have used the border as a political backdrop without putting forth any real solutions to address the shortcomings of an antiquated system that has not been changed in decades," Gonzalez said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
President Joe Biden looks at food that is distributed to immigrants as he tours the El Paso County Migrant Services Support Center in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023.

“I commend the Biden administration for the recently announced changes and for taking the appropriate steps to do what they can while some in Congress continue to sit on their hands. My colleagues must put aside the petty politics and act," Gonzalez said.

The border visit follows a bipartisan trip to Kentucky with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in what could represent a shift toward the center as Biden prepares for an announcement on a 2024 run.

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Maybe if he says it enough people will believe him.

Ahead of President Biden’s first trip to the southern border on Sunday in El Paso, Texas, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas again said the U.S. southern border is closed.

His comments came despite thousands of illegal border crossers pouring into the city, filling the airport, sidewalks, homeless shelters. Over the past few days, many were bused out of town and otherwise cleared out ahead of the president’s visit.

Thank you for this immigration thread… Biden should be impeached!

DemoRATS lie, cheat and put out fake shit all the time and the "media " maintains a deaf ear to it all . :poop:

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There is so much going on and 1 thread cannot possibly cover everything happening today.

They no longer bother to hide their bias.

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Got to love the staging.

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