Biden Will Make Rare Visit to Southern Border on Same Day as Trump – The New York Times
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The president, trying to go on the offensive over immigration, is planning to travel to Texas on Thursday, when Donald J. Trump is also set to visit a border city.
Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman and
Jonathan Swan and Zolan Kanno-Youngs reported from Washington, and Maggie Haberman from New York.
President Biden is planning to make a rare visit to the southern border on Thursday, his press secretary said, traveling to Brownsville, Texas, on the same day that former President Donald J. Trump has already scheduled a border trip.
The plans underscore the urgency now propelling Mr. Biden and his team on immigration, which has become one of his most serious political liabilities. Under the Biden administration, record numbers of migrants have crossed the southern border — a fact that Mr. Trump and Republicans have wielded aggressively against Mr. Biden.
A majority of Americans disapprove of Mr. Biden’s job performance, and polls show that voters who disapprove of him cite immigration more than any other policy issue as a reason.
On his Thursday trip to Brownsville, Mr. Biden plans to meet with Border Patrol, law enforcement and local officials, according to Karine Jean-Pierre, Mr. Biden’s press secretary. Mr. Biden did not directly answer a reporter’s question on Monday about whether he would meet with migrants.
The president is expected to put the blame for the migration crisis on House Republicans, who blocked a bipartisan package that would have enacted severe restrictions at the border, and to call on Congress to come together and address the challenge.
Mr. Biden said he had planned the visit without being aware that Mr. Trump would also be traveling to the border.
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