Former president Donald Trump recently made a visit to the southern border and reiterated his long-standing belief that immigration policies under the Biden administration is “destroying our country.”
Trump—whose controversial fame includes his effort to build a wall along the border of Texas and Mexico to stop the onslaught of illegal immigration—was given a tour of the Eagle Pass, Texas border crossing on February 29. He made the trip with the intention of meeting with both federal and state law enforcement personnel at the border.
🚨Trump meets with Texas National Guard during Eagle Pass, TX border visit
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 29, 2024
During his visit, Trump gave public remarks that reaffirmed his blunt opposition to the policies of President Joe Biden. Current border laws have seemingly failed to address the issue of floods of illegal immigrants entering the country, often followed up by tragedies like an influx of drugs or other crimes.
Trump said while visiting Eagle Pass on Thursday that the policies instituted by President Biden is “destroying our country.” He also specified that the “sad” and unbelievable situation resulted in thousands of crimes.
The former president explained in his comments that “almost half” of all the arrests made by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2023 “were criminal aliens” who were later charged with crimes.
As Trump detailed, these crimes included more than 30,000 attacks, 3,000 robberies, 6,900 burglaries, and 7,500 crimes committed with weapons. Additionally, the nation saw 1,600 kidnappings and 1,700 murders.
“These are the people that are coming into our country,” Trump said, noting that they have arrived with a criminal history and background with mental illness. He went a step further and called these illegal immigrants “terrorists.”
The Lone Star State’s Republican Gov. Greg Abbott joined Trump at the Eagle Pass crossing and shared similar sentiments. In remarks made to those present, the governor said that “Biden does not care about Texas or the border or what’s going on.”
At the same time, Biden was visiting Brownsville, Texas, roughly 300 miles away from his political opponent. The president has been routinely criticized for defending his “open border” policies without visiting the southern border. He announced his plans to take a trip to Brownsville after Trump announced his own visit to Eagle Pass.
Although Biden has recently voiced consideration for cutting back his policies to restrict asylum-seeking immigrants, he took his time in Texas to criticize the GOP for rejecting a bipartisan bill related to border security and called on Republican lawmakers to agree to vote on the legislation.
