WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden will visit the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday for the first time since taking office nearly two years ago, tackling one of the most politically charged issues in the country as he prepares for a reelection bid.
Biden on Thursday announced fresh plans to block Cuban, Haitian and Nicaraguan migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, expanding the nationalities of migrants who can be expelled back to Mexico, and the visit to El Paso, Texas, isn’t expected to yield any new policy breakthroughs.
However, Republicans’ newly assumed control of the House of Representatives essentially blocks prospects for any legislative fixes, leaving Biden with few good options.
Republicans have continually used the border issue as a cudgel against Biden, blaming him for failing to crack down harder. With a Republican majority in the House, and a lot of clout with hard-liners in the Republican Party, there is little hope of compromise.
Biden, along with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas, will meet with lawmakers, local officials and community leaders at the border.
The White House said the president would evaluate border security operations in El Paso. In El Paso, the Democratic mayor declared a state of emergency last month, hundreds of migrants slept in the cold on the streets, and thousands were arrested every day.
U.S. border officials detained a record 2.2 million immigrants at his border with Mexico in his 2022 fiscal year, which ended in September, but that number includes multiple attempts to cross the border. includes people who have
Biden’s attempt to stem the flow of immigrants has drawn criticism from all sides. Human rights activists and some Democratic lawmakers say the new restrictions are a setback from Biden’s 2020 election promise to restore historic rights to asylum seekers.
While the policy has garnered praise from some U.S. industry groups desperate to solve the imminent labor shortage, it has also drawn support from those who support immigration restrictions and those who support asylum seekers. Both sides are likely to raise legal objections.
Biden on Thursday opened legal and limited avenues for Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians, prompting Congress to enact sweeping reforms.
After visiting El Paso, Biden will travel to Mexico to meet with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and touch on immigration issues.
Republicans, furious that Biden has overturned some of former President Donald Trump’s border policies, are using record border crossings, immigrant deaths and reports of fentanyl spills across the border to He is calling for the impeachment of Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas. Some of the pro-Trump Republican hardliners who finally helped pick Kevin McCarthy’s speaker Saturday insisted on zero cooperation with Democrats.
Democrats note that the issue has angered presidents of both parties.
“Voters are fed up with the madness and debate. They want serious solutions.”
