Miles apart, Biden and Trump visit Texas' southern border as the immigration debate intensifies
TEXAS - President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump toured different portions of the Texas border Thursday to discuss illegal immigration policies.
As the number of migrants at the southern border has surged to record numbers, the debate over illegal immigration has intensified.
Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the two leading presidential candidates this November, are far apart on this issue.
Thursday afternoon, President Biden was in Brownsville meeting with border patrol agents, law enforcement officials, and local and state Democratic leaders.
He is still pushing for the bipartisan Senate border deal even though it recently fell apart.
The President says the measure would add border patrol agents, asylum officers, immigration judges, and detection equipment for the deadly drug fentanyl.
Former President Trump is 325 miles away in Eagle Pass.
He has also been meeting with border patrol agents, and law enforcement along with Governor Greg Abbott, who briefed him on the state's operations.
Trump and Republicans have criticized the bipartisan border security deal, saying it would allow as many as five thousand migrants to cross into the U.S. on any given day before the President could shut down the border.
President Biden though says the bill would discourage people from coming into the U.S.
"Persons thinking about entering the United States understands the cases to be decided in a few weeks or months instead of 5 to 7 years," Biden said. "They are less likely to come in the first place to not going to pay the cartels thousands of dollars to make that journey."
"Three years ago, we had the most secure border in history," said Trump. "Brandon was saying it, the general was saying it. We had the most secure border and people weren't coming because they knew they weren't going to get in. And we weren't promising free education, free medical, free, everything."
The former president has said he would crack down on illegal immigration on his first day if elected and ramp up mass deportation efforts.
The Border Patrol Union did come out in favor of the bipartisan Senate border security bill, but the union continues to sharply criticize President Biden's policies.
Democrats in Congress say Republicans just want to play politics and don't want to solve the problem.
Republicans in Congress say they believe they still have leverage to develop a better bill.
