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
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.
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.
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On Thursday, Biden will discuss the urgent need to pass the Senate’s bipartisan border security agreement, according to a White House official. Biden has been blaming Trump for urging House Republicans to block the effort.
A Trump aide said the fact that Biden is visiting the border on the same day as the former Republican president “shows just how big of a problem this is for him”.
The US president will reiterate calls for congressional Republicans to provide the funding needed for additional US Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, fentanyl detection technology, and more, the White House official said.
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Meanwhile, Biden plans to record an interview with late-night comic Seth Meyers on Monday while he is in New York for a campaign event with donors, according to a person familiar with his plans.
Biden’s chat with the host of the NBC show Late Night With Seth Meyers was confirmed by a person familiar with the president’s plans who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Going into this year’s presidential election, Biden is trying to find additional ways to reach out to voters, having largely avoided White House press conferences and on-the-record sit-downs with text reporters. Biden also avoided the traditional pre-Super Bowl presidential interview.
The New York Post newspaper first reported that Meyers was interviewing the president.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
