WASHINGTON (Reuters) — President Joe Biden on Sunday said he planned to visit the border with Mexico “at some point” and his administration was working to ensure that potential migrants applied for asylum in their home countries.
Biden, who took office on Jan. 20, has faced criticism from Republicans for reversing some of the hardline policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump, which they argue has led to increased numbers of migrants arriving at the border.
His administration is wrestling with a growing humanitarian crisis at the border, where the spike in the number of migrants fleeing violence, natural disasters and economic hardship in Central America is testing the Democratic president’s commitment to a more humane immigration policy.
Biden addressed the issue as he returned to the White House from the Camp David presidential retreat and said he would visit the border region at some point, although he gave no specific timetable.
Asked what more could be done to convince migrant families to stop coming across the border, Biden told reporters: “A lot more, we are in the process of doing it now, including making sure we re-establish what existed before – which is they can stay in place and make their case from their home countries.”
The U.S. government has also ramped up “more aggressive” messaging — in English and Spanish — to persuade migrants not to come to the United States.
U.S. officials are struggling to house and process an increasing number of unaccompanied children, many of whom have been stuck in jail-like border stations for days while they await placement in government-run shelters.
Officials now plan to house some migrant families in hotels under a new program managed by nonprofit organizations, Reuters reported on Saturday, in a departure from the use of for-profit detention centers that have been criticized by Democrats and health experts.
Trump issued a statement on Sunday blasting Biden’s policy shift and urging him to complete Trump’s signature border wall.
We proudly handed the Biden Administration the most secure border in history. All they had to do was keep this smooth-running system on autopilot. Instead, in the span of a just few weeks, the Biden Administration has turned a national triumph into a national disaster. They are in way over their heads and taking on water fast.
The pathetic, clueless performance of Secretary Mayorkas on the Sunday Shows today was a national disgrace. His self-satisfied presentation—in the middle of the massive crisis he helped engineer—is yet more proof he is incapable of leading DHS. Even someone of Mayorkas’ limited abilities should understand that if you provide Catch-and-Release to the world’s illegal aliens then the whole world will come.
Furthermore, the Mayorkas Gag Order on our Nation’s heroic border agents and ICE officers should be the subject of an immediate congressional investigation. But it’s clear they are engaged in a huge cover-up to hide just how bad things truly are. The only way to end the Biden Border Crisis is for them to admit their total failure and adopt the profoundly effective, proven Trump policies.
They must immediately complete the wall, which can be done in a matter of weeks—they should never have stopped it. They are causing death and human tragedy. In addition to the obvious, drugs are pouring into our country at record levels from the Southern Border, not to mention human and sex trafficking. This Administration’s reckless policies are enabling and encouraging crimes against humanity. Our Country is being destroyed!
Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Joel Schectman; Editing by Daniel Wallis