Ahead of Title 42's end, expected to come Thursday night along with a surge of illegal aliens crossing into the United States, the White House is insisting that the president has done his duty at the border by visiting it on more than one occasion.
CLAIM: At the White House press briefing Tuesday, FOX Business correspondent Edward Lawrence asked if President Joe Biden will want to return to America's southern border with Mexico to see the post-Title 42 situation himself. That's when White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre asserted, "As you know, the president has gone to the border more than once."
"I don't have any trips to preview for you," Jean-Pierre added, confirming that there are no plans in place for a border visit.
Karine Jean-Pierre says Biden has no plans to visit the southern border, then claims he's "gone to the border more than once" — which is not true. pic.twitter.com/mZ8BRi0QUh
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 9, 2023
FACTS: Since taking office, Biden went a single time to El Paso, Texas, the one and only border visit of his presidency, where U.S. authorities cleaned out encampments on the streets and swept detention centers before the commander-in-chief's arrival.
Biden, who neither saw nor spoke to a single migrant, was blasted after the long-overdue tour, which lasted a few hours in January, due to the overall lack of immigrant interactions, as planned. What was supposed to be the president's firsthand look at the reality on the ground in El Paso—considered the epicenter of Biden's border crisis—dissolved into a brief photo-opportunity.
NEW: Here is what Biden won’t see during his border trip to El Paso on Sunday.
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) January 6, 2023
The city has cleared the streets of encampments like this one, where thousands of migrant adults and kids live for days, even weeks, after being released by Border Patrol. https://t.co/eFZci5iRgo pic.twitter.com/gmp2ABhhiu
Failing to inspect the hardest-hit areas most impacted by illegal entries, Biden was exposed to a watered-down, "sanitized" version of the worsening scene at America's embattled border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources told Fox News.
Footage captured migrants pleading with El Paso cops and praying in Spanish as U.S. authorities rounded up as many as 150 immigrants, NBC News reported. A shelter at the Sacred Heart Church was among the places targeted in the El Paso clean-up.
A group of El Paso residents has formed a “night watch” to monitor U.S. border agents in the city.
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 10, 2023
In a video filmed by a volunteer, Border Patrol officers are seen apprehending migrants sleeping outside a bus station. https://t.co/E9YBBVgVec pic.twitter.com/KkF3LOHalX
El Paso residents were irate and fumed over Biden never seeing the border city in its current state, according to Fox News. One local called it "a cover-up," saying that the city "scrambled" to make it look like "there's no problem" and "there never has been."
Back in December, defending his decision to skip an excursion to the border while in Arizona, Biden told Fox News reporter Peter Doocy that he has "more important things going on" in his schedule than taking travel time to visit the U.S.-Mexico border, despite finding ample opportunities to take dozens of getaway trips to his home state of Delaware and a handful of pitstops for ice cream.
Peter Doocy asks Joe Biden why he's going to Arizona, but refuses to visit the border.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) December 6, 2022
BIDEN: "Because there's more important things going on!" pic.twitter.com/rqarRmWYaV
RATING: Jean-Pierre's claim that Biden has "gone to the border more than once" is FALSE. Biden's been there one time.