Fresh from the first major legislative victory of his brief term in the White House, President Biden is taking the road this week to show approval for his $ 1.9 trillion COVID relief and spending package, which surveys indicate that it is generally popular with most Americans.
But the president and his government are facing competition for the media spotlight, as Republicans are focusing on the growing crisis on the country’s southern border, where an influx of migrants – including children – is crossing the border and oppressing authorities.
CRUZ AND CORNYN TO TAKE THE GOP SENATE DELEGATION TO THE SOUTHERN FRONTIER
“It is more than a crisis. It is a human broken heart,” Republican Party leader Kevin McCarthy said on Monday as he and a delegation of Republican colleagues were in the desert along the southern border in El Paso, Texas.
Although the number of migrants has increased for months – since before Biden succeeded Donald Trump in the White House -, February witnessed an increase. US border agents arrested more than 100,000 migrants last month, an increase of almost 30% over January.
Fox News exclusively obtained two photos showing a temporary external processing location for the US Border Patrol in Mission, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley Sector.
Customs and Border Protection also took almost 10,000 unaccompanied minors into custody last month, an increase of 61% over January. Children and adolescents are arriving at a faster rate than officers can get them out of the Border Patrol facilities and join them with family members or other sponsors. While immigration attorneys cite the precarious conditions, the Biden administration last week mobilized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help prosecute unaccompanied minors.
MCCARTHY HAMMERS BIDEN DURING THE BORDER STOP
Biden is facing fire from the progressive left of the Democratic Party, which is increasingly frustrated by the slow progress so far by the president to deliver on what he promised in the 2020 campaign – a more humane immigration system than the government’s restrictive policies. Trump.
While facing blows from his own party, Biden is also dealing with the fire coming from Republicans, who are using the issue to hammer the president.
“The sad part of all this is that it didn’t have to happen. This crisis is created by the presidential policies of this new government. There is no other way to claim it than a crisis at the Biden border,” emphasized McCarthy during his trip across the border.
The Republican Party attacked Biden, undoing some of Trump’s immigration policies – from stopping the construction of the border wall to relaxing the “Stay in Mexico” program, which forced asylum seekers to stay in Mexico pending their cases to be heard. In the USA
Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, of Texas, will lead a Republican Party delegation in the Senate to the border later this month, and a second delegation of Republicans in the House will also make the journey in two weeks.
The Republican National Committee is starting to fire on the president, accusing “Biden of refusing to acknowledge the crisis” and claiming that “the president’s policies exacerbate a situation that gets worse by the minute”.
And last week, Trump attacked Biden, arguing in a statement that “our country is being destroyed on the southern border”.
TRUMP THROUGH BIDEN’S HAND IN THE BORDER CRISIS
The recent media attention on the influx of migrants along the southern border may be resonating.
A CNN poll conducted March 3-8 measured the president’s approval rating on seven crucial issues. Biden’s best assessment was in the fight against the coronavirus – where he had 60% approval and 34% disapproval. His worst problem was immigration – where the president was submerged by 43% -49%.
Asked by reporters on Tuesday whether he had plans to visit the southern border, the president replied “not yet”.
Immigration was a winning issue for Trump in 2016. His votes to “build the wall” contributed to his victory in the White House. Republicans appear to be using the Trump handbook when trying to win back majorities in the House and Senate in next year’s midterm elections.
“The immigration issue has energized the Republican base. For the past decade and will continue to do so. It makes perfect sense that they are chasing Biden over this,” veteran Republican researcher and Republican Presidential campaign veteran Neil Newhouse told Fox News. “It will have a long way to go until 2022 because the problems facing the country at the border are simply not easy to solve.”
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Early last year, Democratic congressmen and party presidential candidates in 2020 criticized then-President Trump for a wave of immigrants on the southern border before the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, just over a year later, Biden is on the hot seat.
“Turnaround’s fair game,” noted Newhouse. “The Trump administration has been attacked for dealing with immigration and this is different, but not better, for the Biden government.”