President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump made dueling visits to the southern border this Thursday, as the issue of immigration becomes the political priority of millions of Americans.
The latest Gallup survey (February 1-20) reveals that immigration ranks as the most important problem ahead of the 2024 presidential election. For context, 28 percent of Americans see the issue as the most crucial one, which is more than the following issues combined: federal deficit (3 percent), crime and violence (3 percent), foreign policy/foreign aid/focus overseas (3 percent), poverty/hunger/homelessness (6 percent) and inflation (11 percent).
The momentum is on Trump’s side, as he’s the candidate who made immigration his top issue since he descended the famous escalator to announce his candidacy in 2015. Still, Biden is attempting to better his image, blaming electorally-motivated Republicans for the porous border and calling for bipartisanship.
During his remarks in Brownsville, Biden attempted to portray himself as the unifier, extending an olive branch to his political competitor. He called on the former president to join his efforts in advancement of policy, not politics, following the failure to pass a controversial Senate immigration bill — which Trump lobbied against — in Congress.
Join me — or I’ll join you — in telling Congress to pass this bipartisan border security bill. We can do this together,” Biden said.
While Biden extended his hand, speaking in Eagle Pass, Trump pointed his finger directly at him. Diving into recent crimes committed by illegal migrants, including the killing of a nursing student in Georgia at the hands of a Venezuelan illegal immigrant, Trump placed all blame on the Biden administration.
Biden has “the blood of countless innocent victims” on his hands, Trump claimed, labeling the trend “Biden migrant crime” — “a new form of vicious violation to our country.”
“The majority of Democrats and Republicans in both houses supported [the failed border bill] until someone came along and said ‘Don’t do that, it’ll benefit the incumbent,’” Biden said in reference to Trump. “That’s a hell of a way to do business in America for such a serious problem,” he added. “We need to act.”
“Let’s remember who we work for for God’s sake,” Biden said. “We work for the American people,” imploring Republicans in Congress to “show a little spine.”
Trump’s rejection of the notion that this is a bipartisan issue was accompanied by other gruesome stories. Aside of the Georgia killing, an incident involving the raping of a minor was shared by the Republican candidate: “Just four days ago, an illegal alien in Louisiana was arrested for brutally raping a fourteen-year-old girl while holding a knife to her throat, and he then allegedly robbed a man who was getting out of his car in front of his home and repeatedly stabbed him in the face, in the back, in the face many, many times.”
With Trump’s rhetoric on immigration intensifying, Biden, who first came to visit the border three years into his presidency, has been forced into a position where he must appear strong. Yet as Trump promises to finish the wall and authorize the largest deportation operation in American history, it is unclear how exactly Biden could manage to win the issue without dissatisfying a large segment of his progressive base.
Source:spectator world
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