Several illegal migrants who crossed the nation’s southern border admitted they came to the U.S. because of President Joe Biden and his lax border policies.
The president arrived in El Paso on Sunday and tried to show that he is concerned about the border crisis that exploded under his administration. He toured a section of former President Donald Trump’s border wall accompanied by Border Patrol agents.
Interviewed in El Paso by the Daily Caller News Foundation, one Venezuelan migrant said they “sold everything” to travel to the U.S. They said that the president “told us to come” but now they cannot return to their home country “because we are targets for leaving.”
The migrants were interviewed at an El Paso shelter as Biden prepared to make his first trip to the southern border in his two years in the White House.
Migrants in the city continued to praise his actions as rolling out the red carpet for border crossers.
Another illegal migrant named Joshua, also from Venezuela, said that the president “had good policies.” Biden, he noted, permitted Central and South Americans to enter the country. He added that the president gave migrants a chance because “we deserve it.”
With Title 42 immigration restrictions extended until next month, the Biden administration announced late last year that it will start sending Venezuelan migrants back across the border. Only those who enter through legal points and have a sponsor will be granted a pathway to citizenship.
However, many are still allowed into the U.S. for humanitarian reasons, and they expressed hope that the president would extend their stay when he arrived in El Paso.
Last week, Biden announced that the White House will ramp up immigration controls by expelling Cuban, Haitian, and Nicaraguan migrants at the southern border. This added to the list of nationalities that can be turned away and sent back into Mexico.
Hand-delivered a letter to President Biden today during his first visit to the border.
His trip is $20 billion too little & 2 years too late.
I’m calling on Biden to do his constitutional duty to protect our nation. pic.twitter.com/cy8xgh5EJ2
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 8, 2023
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was having none of the president’s posturing. In a letter he handed to Biden upon his arrival, the Republican told the president he “violated your constitutional obligation to defend the States against invasion” by not enforcing federal law.
Interviewed by Fox News, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) put blame squarely on the shoulders of the president for the chaos. He said Washington has “allowed now a situation where frankly, we no longer have a border.”
Biden’s long-overdue trip to the southern border accomplished little except to spotlight even further the failures of this administration to protect the country. Though hardly likely, his best course of action would be to revert to the strong immigration policies of his predecessor.
