EL PASO, Texas, (Reuters) – President Joe Biden visited the U.S.-Mexico border yesterday for the first time since taking office, tackling one of the most politically charged issues in the country as he prepares for a re-election bid.
Accompanied by Border Patrol agents, Biden toured a section of the wall that divides the two countries, a signature priority of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, in an effort to demonstrate that he was taking the issue seriously.
Biden on Thursday said his administration would tighten immigration enforcement by blocking Cuban, Haitian and Nicaraguan migrants at the border, expanding the nationalities of those who can be expelled back to Mexico.
But that has not impressed Republicans like Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who accused him of failing to enforce immigration laws.
“You have violated your constitutional obligation to defend the States against invasion through faithful execution of federal laws,” Abbott, a possible 2024 presidential candidate, wrote in a letter he handed to Biden upon his arrival in the state.
Biden told reporters he had not yet read the letter.
Joined by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, the president also visited the Bridge of the Americas, which connects the United States and Mexico, and viewed equipment that border officials use to detect illegal drugs.
