The American president, Joe Bidenand his predecessor and possible rival in the November elections, donald trump (2017-2021), traveled this Thursday to the southern border of USApointing out migration as the central axis of their respective campaigns.
The visit of the two politicians also revealed how the anti-immigration discourse of the Republican Party and former President Trump has forced Democrats to adopt more restrictive positions.
During his speech in the city of Brownsville, which borders Matamoros (Mexico), Biden insisted on the “need” to approve a controversial bipartisan bill that included restrictions on the right to asylum at the border in exchange for Republican support to continue funding to Ukraine and Israel in their defense against Russia and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Trump rejects Biden’s proposal
The agreement has collapsed in the Senate due to opposition from Republicans, pushed by Trump, who publicly rejected the bill.
“This is what I say to Mr. Trump: join me or I will join you in telling Congress to pass the bipartisan border security bill.”said the president after meeting with members of the Border Patrol and immigration authorities.
About 500 kilometers away, in the city of Eagle Pass, which borders Piedra Negras (Mexico), Trump directly criticized Biden and his immigration policies, accusing him of having an open border despite the fact that the Democrat has imposed strong restrictions on asylum applications at the border.
“The most incompetent president in history”
The former Republican president reiterated his usual xenophobic comments about immigrants, ensuring that they are “terrorists” and that they arrive from “prisons and mental institutions.”
“They are being allowed to enter our country. And that’s horrible.”Trump said, calling Biden “probably the most incompetent president in American history” and trying to link the increase in border crossings with crime in the country.
During fiscal year 2023, more than 2.4 million migrant arrests were recorded on the border with Mexico, a record number.
“When someone violated the law, we captured them and deported them. We did a great job. Then there was an election (…) and from that moment on a lot of bad things started to happen. “The situation changed in Texas and everywhere,” said the Republican.
Trump’s threats
Previously, Trump had promised this week on his social network, Truth Social, that if he is re-elected he will carry out “the largest deportation of illegal criminals in the history of the United States,” and on this occasion he also warned of the complications posed by the arrival of that supposed migrant “invasion.”
Biden in turn stressed the need to reach an immigration pact, alluding to the lack of resources currently suffered by those working on the ground: “They need more agents, more officers, more judges, more equipment to secure our border”he pointed out.
Agreements with other countries
This same week, the United States, Mexico and Guatemala held a summit to promote trilateral collaboration on immigration, which resulted, among other things, in the creation of a working group to jointly address current challenges.
Source: Gestion
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