In a statement this week, the Biden White House tried to blame Republicans for the ongoing illegal immigration crisis at the southern border.
Ahead of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s visit to the border, the White House issued a statement attacking Republicans for their response to the crisis.
“Actions speak louder than words,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement obtained by POLITICO ahead of the Republican border visits. “House Republicans’ anti-border security record is defined by attempting to cut Customs and Border Protection personnel, opposing President Biden’s record-breaking border security funding, and refusing to take up the President’s supplemental funding request.”
“After voting in 2023 to eliminate over 2,000 Border Patrol agents and erode our capacity to seize fentanyl earlier in 2023, House Republicans left Washington in mid-December even as President Biden and Republicans and Democrats in the Senate remained to forge ahead on a bipartisan agreement,” Bates added.
INBOX: As @SpeakerJohnson leads 60 House Republicans to the TX-MX border today, White House weighs in: “Actions speak louder than words. House Republicans’ anti-border security record is defined by…refusing to take up the President’s supplemental funding request.” pic.twitter.com/5sQRtsp0kW
— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) January 3, 2024
POLITICO noted that a recent Pew Research Center poll found that only 32 percent of American adults are very confident or somewhat confident in President Joe Biden’s ability to make “wise decisions about immigration policy.”
Johnson responded, claiming that Biden “has been derelict in his duty” to secure the southern border, according to The Hill.
“While the President requests more funds — not to stop illegal immigration — but to process more illegal immigrants through their ‘catch and release’ policy, he has undermined security at every turn,” the Speaker said.
“From his decision to rescind the Remain in Mexico policy to the widespread abuse of the parole and asylum systems, there is a direct line between this administration’s reckless policies and the record 300,000 illegal immigrants encountered at the Southern border last month,” Johnson added.
On X, Johnson wrote that the Biden administration “decided to divert the flood of illegal immigrants to another location in order to keep them out of the camera shots during @HouseGOP’s visit to Eagle Pass.”
“Don’t be fooled, they are still being released into our country,” he added. “Under President Biden, our Southern border is a disaster.”
Here is Eagle Pass just weeks ago vs. yesterday.
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) January 2, 2024
The Biden Administration decided to divert the flood of illegal immigrants to another location in order to keep them out of the camera shots during @HouseGOP’s visit to Eagle Pass. Don’t be fooled, they are still being released… pic.twitter.com/XzjPVq5xxB
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