President Joe Biden is set to make a rare trip to the US-Mexico border tomorrow, setting up a split screen with 2024 rival former President Donald Trump, who has made Biden’s handling of illegal immigration a centerpiece of his reelection effort.
Trump is expected to give remarks at Eagle Pass tomorrow, according to a source familiar with his plans.
During his visit, Biden is expected to meet with US Border Patrol agents, law enforcement and local leaders in Brownsville to discuss the need for a border agreement, according to a White House official. Brownsville and Eagle Pass are about 300 miles apart.
Biden’s visit comes as he considers sweeping executive action to restrict migrants’ ability to seek asylum at the US southern border if they crossed illegally. Biden has repeatedly lambasted congressional Republicans for failing to pass a bipartisan compromise spending package that included significant concessions on border policy as he tries to flip the script on the GOP, which has slammed Biden over the border throughout his presidency – including impeaching his Homeland Security secretary over his handling of the border.
The failure of the package came in large part due to opposition from Trump, who hopes to wield the border as a political cudgel against Biden.
Trump, who has said that undocumented immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the United States, has vowed to conduct the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history” if he wins the White House in November.
Read more about the dueling visits.
First appeared on www.cnn.com