(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump visited the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday in Texas, spotlighting the key role immigration and border security are set to play in the 2024 election.
Biden visited the Rio Grande Valley city of Brownsville, which has recently seen a dip in illegal border crossings after being the busiest sector for nine years.
It’s a stark contrast to the Eagle Pass area, about 300 miles away, where Trump spoke along with Texas Gov. Abbott at Shelby Park, a state park at the epicenter of a standoff between Texas and the federal government over enforcement.
Trump and Abbott blamed the border crisis on Biden, accusing his administration’s policies of encouraging migration and claiming Biden has the authority to secure the border. That’s an argument the Biden administration has pushed back on, calling on Congress to act on immigration reform to address the problem.
Trump also blamed Biden for crimes committed by illegal migrants, discussing the case of Laken Riley, a nursing student who was killed in Georgia. The suspect in Riley’s case is an undocumented Venezuelan who has a criminal history.
Abbott also emphasized his state’s efforts to increase border security, which have been the focus of legal challenges from the Biden administration, claiming the state is overstepping its authority in the area.
Despite Abbott’s efforts, however, the southern border continues to witness daily crossings, as observed in Eagle Pass where several groups of migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua were recently apprehended by Border Patrol.
Among one of the groups were five unaccompanied minors, who were transferred to the Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement. Officials aim to place them with family members or sponsors. These groups are categorized as “give-ups,” meaning they self-surrender to agents.
Eagle Pass is currently experiencing the largest number of crossings. On Monday, the area had nearly 600 migrant encounters, while Brownsville recorded zero the same day.
Some Republicans have criticized Biden’s visit to Brownsville as a mere “photo op” in light of these facts. Many residents agreed, saying they feel there’s been a failure at the border that needs addressing.
“I honestly don’t know. He’s doing bad in the country,” Brownsville resident Roel Melendez said. “Look at where we’re at right now with the open borders and stuff like that. And to be honest with you, he could have done a better job than that.”
Other residents have welcomed Biden’s visit.
“I think it’s great that he’ll come here, that he’ll be here; he needs to be here first-hand to see,” said Misty Ibarra, another Brownsville resident. “We regularly go to Mexico to Matamoros and back, and we see a lot of refugees lined up on the border wall and at the gate. And he does need to see it first-hand.”
Thursday’s visit marked Biden’s second visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, following his first stop in El Paso in January 2023. He faced ongoing criticism from Republicans for his border policies and for not visiting in December when the U.S. experienced record migrant encounters.
Biden responded to Republicans by urging them to pass a bipartisan border deal, which was blocked by Senate Republicans earlier this month.
This comes as the Border Patrol chief reports more than 120,000 “gotaways” have been reported since this fiscal year started Oct. 1.
NewsNation spoke with a Border Patrol agent who said they received a nationwide directive ordering all processing centers to take measures necessary to reduce the current detainee number below 75% capacity.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has not yet responded to a request for comment.