As they made dueling visits to the border over a priority topic before November's election, President Joe Biden urged Donald Trump to assist unblock a congressional plan to reduce migrant crossings.
In Brownsville, Texas, across the Rio Grande from Mexico, Biden slammed Republicans for rejecting a bipartisan immigration reform bill after Trump encouraged them not to pass it and give him a win.
Biden and Trump, the Republican former president pursuing his third White House attempt, are expected to face off in a close, bitter rematch of the 2020 election on Nov. 5.
"Here's what I would say to Mr. Trump:... Instead of telling members of Congress to block this legislation, join me, or I'll join you, in telling the Congress to pass this bipartisan security bill," he said, stressing that the inactivity should be explained.
After hearing from border patrol and other ground personnel, Biden stated they "desperately need more resources." Trump spoke with local officials and Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott along the Rio Grande before speaking at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, where border-crossers have caused problems for authorities in recent months.
"This is a Biden invasion over the past three years," Trump declared, noting migrant atrocities and calling the border problem a "war" in the latest example of his increasingly heated language.
In power, he promised to reinstate measures like the "Remain in Mexico" plan, which obliged some migrants to stay in Mexico for U.S. immigration decisions. Hundreds of Trump supporters held “Make America Great Again” and “Never Surrender” flags on street corners overlooking Shelby Park, where migrants were blocked.
Biden took office in 2021 pledging to overturn Trump's hardline immigration policies, but he has since toughened his own.
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