What has Biden told Trump about the Mexican border and how it may affect immigrants?
President Joe Biden has invited his rival former President Donald Trump to work together to address the immigration crisis at the southern border.
As the presidential race continues to heat up, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both visited the southern border.
President Joe Biden gave a speech in Texas, shortly after Trump spoke in Eagle Pass. In recent weeks, Biden has addressed the immigration crisis and urged Congress to act on the matter, but on this occasion, he also included the Republican frontrunner in his call for action.
Biden to Trump: Let’s get it done
Biden made a direct appeal to Trump, asking him to join him in pressuring Congress to pass a new bipartisan immigration bill.
“You and I know it is the toughest, most efficient and most effective border security bill this country has ever seen,” Biden said. He said he and Trump should “just get together and get it done”, instead of playing politics with the issue.
“We need to act,” the president said, adding that Republicans in Congress needed to “show a little spine.”
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The bipartisan measure that did not pass Congress
A group of Democratic and Republican legislators managed to reach a bipartisan bill agreement that included severe measures to address the immigration crisis, in addition to including a foreign aid package. Among other measures, it contemplated severely reducing asylum on the southern border and assistance for Israel and Ukraine.
However, Senate Republicans blocked the legislation in early February following opposition from House Republicans and Donald Trump.
Before the bipartisan agreement was blocked, Biden had promised that, if approved, he would use his authority to close the border.
“What has been negotiated would be, if it becomes law, the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border that we have ever had in our country. It would give me, as president, new emergency authority to close the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if I had that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill,” Biden said in a statement.
Additionally, Biden expected Congress to approve funding to secure the border with 1,300 additional border patrol agents, plus 375 immigration judges, 1,600 asylum officers and more than 100 state-of-the-art inspection machines to help detect and stop the transport of fentanyl.