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Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, seen here in 2014, says President Biden’s delegation “did not speak to anyone, not even members of Congress here” during his visit to the border.
AP Photo / O Monitor
Texas Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar called President Biden for not visiting the United States’ border with Mexico and said the recent visit by a White House delegation was insufficient.
“Any president must come down [and] really spends time with border communities. You know, the president sent a delegation and a group of people from the White House, ”the nine-term congressman told Fox News. “They didn’t speak to anyone, not even the members of Congress down here.”
Biden’s election in November – and hope for his government’s milder immigration policies – has sparked waves of new migrants, many of whom are fleeing poverty and crime in Central America.
More than 100,000 were received by border patrol agents at the southern border last month. Thousands of unaccompanied minors are currently being held in shelters operated by the Department of Health and Human Services.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki acknowledged the extraordinary challenge now facing the border, but declined to call the situation a crisis.
“I don’t think we need to put new labels on what we already broadcast is a challenge,” she said when pressed during a news conference on Tuesday.