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Chris Cabrera, the vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, suggested on Thursday that President Joe Biden should visit the southern border in California instead of his planned trip to Brownsville, Texas.
While speaking on Fox & Friends, Cabrera said that there were only six migrant apprehensions at the Brownsville station on Wednesday. When asked why he thinks Biden has decided to visit the Brownsville station, Cabrera said, "Who knows."
"I don't know if it's something to do about a campaign stop or what, but right now, the focus is in Arizona, which had 1,500 [apprehensions], San Diego, around 1,900 [apprehensions]," Cabrera said. "So, you figure that's where he needs to be."
Cabrera also said that former President Donald Trump was "by far" better at securing the United States-Mexico border, saying "he listened to the agents on the ground, not talking heads up in D.C."
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.
The context:
Earlier this week, the White House announced that Biden was planning to travel to Brownsville to address ongoing issues at the border.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden plans to "meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement, and local leaders" and "will discuss the urgent need to pass the Senate bipartisan border security agreement, the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border in decades."
What we know:
Biden has faced continued criticism from Republicans over his handling of the southern border. Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows a decline in the number of illegal migrant encounters at the nation's southwest border in January compared to December; however, these numbers are still far higher than in previous years.
According to CBP data, California's southwest border saw 41,345 illegal migrant encounters in January 2024, 52,432 in December 2023 and 48,398 in November 2023.
CalMatters previously reported that San Diego has seen nearly 100,000 migrants arriving in the city over the past six months. Other California news outlets reported this week that migrants in San Diego were recently left at a bus station after a processing facility was unable to accept any new migrants.
Views:
In addition to Biden, Trump, the current frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is also expected to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday near Eagle Pass.
The announcement by Biden prompted criticism from Trump's campaign, with spokesperson Karoline Leavitt saying in a statement that "Crooked Joe Biden has had three years to visit the border and fix the crisis he created."
"Biden's last-minute, insincere attempt to chase President Trump to the border won't cut it — Americans know Biden is single-handedly responsible for the worst immigration crisis in history and the ensuing Biden Migrant Crime Crisis affecting every community in our Country," the statement said.
What's next:
Biden has repeatedly called on Congress to pass a bipartisan border security bill that was negotiated by Senate members earlier this month. House Republicans have opposed the bill, and Trump has also been critical of the legislation.
Immigration is likely to remain a top issue for voters in the 2024 election, where Biden and Trump are the front-running candidates for their respective parties.
Update, 2/29/24, 9:40 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update, 2/29/24, 10:15 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
About the writer
Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more