President Biden says it’s his “intention” to visit the U.S-Mexico border amid a record high number of border crossings, according to a report.
Biden made the comments Wednesday at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, saying that it’s his “intention” to visit the border during his trip to the North American Leaders’ Summit on Jan. 9-10, which will include meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The visit would mark Biden’s first trip to the border during his presidency.
People familiar with discussions surrounding the potential visit told the Wall Street Journal that Biden will not be making a policy announcement if he visits the border.
The potential trip comes amid a record-breaking crisis at the southern border, with 617, 250 total migrant encounters occurring so far in FY 2023 as of Dec. 29, 2022, according to Customs and Border Protection sources, adding that there’s an average of 6,858 encounters per day.
In FY 2022, migrant encounters reached 2.3 million.
On Dec. 6, Biden said that “there are more important things going on” when asked why he’d visit a border state but not the U.S. -Mexico border itself.
The Biden administration has pushed for Title 42 — the pandemic-era policy which allows immigration officers to quickly remove migrants from the country on the basis of public health — to be lifted.
After U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled in favor of immigration advocates and gave Title 42 an end date of Dec. 21, the Supreme Court temporarily halted the policy’s termination.
Without providing evidence, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in November that Biden has been to the border.
“We know the president’s never been down to the border. The possible next speaker says that he wants [Biden] to go with him. So, is he going to?” Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked.
“He’s been there. He’s been to the border. And since he took office…,” Jean-Pierre said.
“When did he go to the border?,” Doocy responded, which led to Jean-Pierre attempting to evade the question and blame Republicans for their alleged unwillingness to work with Biden on the issue.
“They’re doing political stunts. That’s what they want to do. That’s how they want to take care of the situation,” Jean-Pierre said.
