Current:Home > reviewsWatch Live: Biden and Trump hold dueling events at the southern border today -FundPrime
Watch Live: Biden and Trump hold dueling events at the southern border today
View
Date:2025-04-13 20:39:15
Washington — President Biden is visiting the southern border Thursday at the same time former President Donald Trump is also making an appearance in a different Texas border town, in a split screen emblematic of the political moment.
Mr. Biden is visiting Brownsville, Texas, where he's meeting with border patrol agents, law enforcement officials and local leaders, the White House said. He'll deliver remarks to "highlight the need for Congress to pass the bipartisan border security agreement" negotiated in the Senate that Republicans rejected earlier this month when Trump intervened.
The president praised U.S. Customs and Border Protection workers for their efforts at the southern border but noted that they "desperately need more resources," more agents, more officers, more equipment "in order to secure our border," Mr. Biden said. "Folks, it's time to act. It's long past time to act," he added.
Mr. Biden called on Republican leaders to "show a little spine" and pass the border and national security deal that was agreed upon and then scuttled after Trump expressed his opposition to it. The measure, which would have provided funding for more border security agents between ports of entry and add immigration judges to address the backlog of millions of cases, was "derailed by rank-and-file politics," the president said, after Republicans were told, "'don't do that because it'll benefit the incumbent.'"
Arguing that the bill would win "the majority of Democrats and Republicans in both houses," the president called on Republicans and Democrats, including Trump, to "just get together and get it done" and "remember who we work for, for God's sake."
Meanwhile, the former president and the frontrunner for the Republican nomination is in Eagle Pass, Texas, a little more than 300 miles from the president. Trump is expected to deliver remarks Thursday afternoon, while his campaign is lambasting Mr. Biden's visit as a "last-minute, insincere attempt to chase" him to the border. Trump met with Texas officials including Gov. Greg Abbott.
The former president, in remarks at the border, claimed that the U.S. is "being overrun by the Biden migrant crime," and he rattled off a list of crimes he alleged had been committed by migrants. "They're being let into our country, and it's horrible."
He brought up the murder of University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley in his remarks. Officials say the suspect in her killing, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, entered the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.
Trump referred to Ibarra as the "monster illegal alien migrant released into the country" by President Biden.
The former president was asked by a reporter about the race to be the next Senate Republican leader. "A lot of people are calling to politick me for that job," Trump said. He did not name a candidate he favored, but added that "it's all going to work out, and we're going to end up with a great leader."
Mr. Biden told reporters that he's been planning the visit for Thursday, adding that "what I didn't know is my good friend is apparently going" on the same day.
The border has become a political flashpoint in recent months amid record levels of migrant arrivals. Republicans have railed against the Biden administration for its handling of the southern border. In a rare move earlier this month, House Republicans voted to impeach Mr. Biden's chief border official, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. And the GOP has repeatedly called on Mr. Biden to take executive action on immigration.
Democrats have attempted to go on offense on the immigration issue after Republicans rejected the long-sought border deal that would have marked the first comprehensive border security policy reform in Congress in decades. Congressional Democrats and the White House have pointed to the flip flopping, accusing Republicans of seeking to use the border as political fodder rather than seeking to address the issue.
Mr. Biden's campaign, meanwhile, has called out Trump for "blocking border security."
The visit comes ahead of Mr. Biden's March 7 State of the Union address, and as the White House has been weighing whether to severely restrict access to the U.S. asylum system, sources previously told CBS News. For Mr. Biden, the visit marks his first to the southern border since a trip to El Paso in January 2023.
"He wanted to show that it was important for him to go down there to hear from Border Patrol agents, to hear from first responders on what's going on on the ground," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre told reporters on Wednesday. "And he also wants to lay out the work that he has been able to do with senators in a bipartisan way."
- In:
- Immigration
- Joe Biden
- Donald Trump
Kaia Hubbard is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital based in Washington, D.C.
veryGood! (76215)
Related
- House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
- Neighbor reported smelling gas night before Maryland house explosion
- After record-breaking years, migrant crossings plunge at US-Mexico border
- New Jersey governor’s former chief of staff to replace Menendez, but only until November election
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
- Peter Marshall, 'Hollywood Squares' host, dies at 98 of kidney failure
- Family agrees to settle lawsuit against officer whose police dog killed an Alabama man
- Powerball winning numbers for August 14 drawing: Jackpot at $35 million
- Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
- TikToker Nara Smith Addresses Accusation She’s Using Ozempic
Ranking
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- How Lubbock artists pushed back after the city ended funding for its popular art walk
- Rail bridge collapses on US-Canada border
- 14-year-old Alabama high school football player collapses, dies at practice
- 'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
- Don't Miss Out on lululemon's Rarest Finds: $69 Align Leggings (With All Sizes in Stock), $29 Tops & More
- Mark Meadows tries to move his charges in Arizona’s fake electors case to federal court
- When might LeBron and Bronny play their first Lakers game together?
Recommendation
The Grammy nominee you need to hear: Esperanza Spalding
Disney wrongful death lawsuit over allergy highlights danger of fine print
Ryan Reynolds Reacts to Deadpool's Box Office Rivalry With Wife Blake Lively's It Ends With Us
College Football Playoff ranking release schedule: Dates, times for 2024 season
Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
Ex-Alabama officer agrees to plead guilty to planting drugs before sham traffic stop
Man didn’t know woman he fatally shot in restaurant drive-thru before killing himself, police say
Wyoming reporter resigned after admitting to using AI to write articles, generate quotes