President Joe Biden has taken an open border approach to the ongoing issues at the U.S.-Mexico border, which created a historic crisis that has seen all-time highs of apprehensions and got-aways of illegal immigrants, but he didn't always feel that way.
The Republican National Committee Research department brought back attention to what Biden told voters in Iowa during the 2008 presidential election cycle.
"Ladies and gentlemen, no great country can say it is secure without being able to control its borders. Period," Biden said.
Biden elaborated he would increase the number of Border Patrol agents and use deploy types of security technology to help secure the border.
FLASHBACK to Joe Biden in 2007: “No great country can say it is secure without being able to control its borders.”
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 27, 2021
What changed, @JoeBiden? pic.twitter.com/X32k5FxN9t
While Biden was in the Senate, he did more than support the idea of a "virtual wall." He, along with 79 members of the U.S. Senate, voted in favor of H.R. 6061, the Secure Fence Act of 2006. Former President Barack Obama also voted for the bill when he was a senator for Illinois.
"Folks, I voted for a fence, I voted, unlike most Democrats – and some of you won’t like it – I voted for 700 miles of fence," Biden told a group of voters, according to CNN. "But, let me tell you, we can build a fence 40 stories high – unless you change the dynamic in Mexico and – and you will not like this, and – punish American employers who knowingly violate the law when, in fact, they hire illegals. Unless you do those two things, all the rest is window dressing."
Since coming into office, Biden halted construction of the new border wall that was starting to be built under former President Donald Trump, resulting in gaps along different parts of the southern border that have been exploited by traffickers this year.