The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) issued a warning to President Joe Biden on Thursday as he prepares to visit the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas.
Biden’s visit comes as immigration and border control continue to dominate the 2024 presidential election. Republicans have blamed Biden’s border policies for an uptick in migrant arrivals, urging him to take executive action to tighten border security. There were more than 2.4 million encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border during the 2023 fiscal year, up from roughly 1.7 million in 2021, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
While Biden visits Brownsville, former President Donald Trump, who remains the frontrunner to win the Republican presidential nomination and has embraced hardline immigration policies, is set to visit Eagle Pass, where Texas authorities and the federal government have been locked in a legal battle over state measures intended to prevent illegal immigration.
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On the day of his visit, the union representing members of border patrol gave a warning to Biden in a post to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Attention President Biden: Keep our name out of your mouth today,” the post reads.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.
The union joins Republicans who have criticized Biden over the visit, accusing him of only visiting the border for a “photo op” while not taking more action to secure it.
“President Biden’s photo op visit to the border today means nothing after three years of inaction, as the agents serving at our southern border know all too well,” Senator Deb Fischer, a Nebraska Republican, wrote in response to the NBPC post.
Representative Byron Donalds also shared the post, adding, “Biden pledged to reduce border security out of spite. Biden caused a border crisis with 64+ actions.
Biden could fix this TOMORROW. Biden refuses because it’s an admission of failure. Our cities are overrun & Americans are getting killed. EVERYONE knows he’s failed our nation.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended Biden’s visit on a press conference on Wednesday when pressed about whether it is an “election year stunt.”
“On the first day of this presidential administration, [Biden] put out a comprehensive immigration policy to deal with this issue. That was his first piece of legislation. I would hope the American people see how serious this president was, or is, about fixing this issue,” she said.
The White House has blamed Republicans for inaction on the border after conservatives sank a bipartisan bill that would have addressed the border. Critics have accused Republican lawmakers of rejecting the bill to deny Biden a political win in an election year, noting their opposition came after Trump urged Republicans not to accept anything less than a “perfect” bill.
Border Patrol union president Brandon Judd previously described Biden’s trip as “”too little, too late.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.