Biden and Trump to visit US-Mexico border on same day

US President Joe Biden will travel to Brownsville, Texas on Thursday to meet US Border Patrol agents, police and local leaders, the White House said

On the same day, former president Trump, who has been highly critical of Biden’s border policy, will visit Eagle Pass in Texas, a Trump aide said

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Migrants link arms as they wade into the Rio Grande river from Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico with intentions to cross into Eagle Pass, Texas, US on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:46am, 27 Feb 2024

US President Joe Biden and Donald Trump will visit the US-Mexico border on the same day this week, highlighting how illegal immigration has become one of the most important issues as they look towards a likely general election rematch in November.

Biden will travel to Brownsville, Texas on Thursday to meet US Border Patrol agents, police and local leaders, a White House official said.

On the same day, Republican former US president Trump, who has been highly critical of his Democratic successor’s border policy and the number of illegal immigrants crossing into the US, will visit Eagle Pass in Texas, a Trump campaign aide said.

US President Joe Biden, left, and former president Donald Trump. Photo: AFP

Trump is close to securing the Republican presidential nomination after a series of primary victories over former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, his last remaining rival. Trump is now focusing his attacks on Biden, with polls showing Biden vulnerable over the issue of illegal immigration.

The Democratic president’s approval rating sank to 38 per cent in January as concerns over immigration flared, the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

The poll found rising concern about immigration, with 17 per cent of respondents listing it as the most important problem facing the US today, up sharply from 11 per cent who cited as the most pressing issue in December. It was the top concern of Republican respondents, with 36 per cent citing it as their main worry, above the 29 per cent who cited the economy.

Biden’s administration has struggled to cope with a surge of asylum seekers on the US-Mexico border, while Republicans in Congress, egged on by Trump, have threatened to scuttle a bipartisan attempt to tackle the problem.

Republicans in the US House of Representatives are pressing ahead with an effort to impeach Biden’s top border official, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.