Biden inspects busy port of entry along US-Mexico border

President Joe Biden inspected a busy port of entry along the US-Mexico border on Sunday on his first trip to the region after two years in office, a visit shadowed by the fraught politics of immigration as Republicans try to blame him for the record numbers of migrants crossing into the country.

At his first stop, the president observed as border officers in El Paso demonstrated how they search vehicles for drugs, money and other contraband. In a sign of the deep tensions over immigration, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, handed Biden a letter upon his arrival in the state that said the “chaos” at the border was a “direct result” of the president's failure to enforce federal laws.

Just feet from Mexican soil, Biden asked how quickly border officers needed to find migrants smuggled in a vehicle before the people run out of oxygen. He asked about seizures of fentanyl, an opioid that can be 50 times as powerful as the same amount of heroin. As he toured the facility, a large sign that said, “Bienvenido a Mexico,” or welcome to Mexico, hung over the Bridge of the Americas.

Immigration for years has been a serious point of conflict, exposing both the dysfunction of the US system as well as the turmoil within migrants' home countries that has pushed many to flee. Administration officials have tried to counter Republican criticism by saying Congress should work with them to increase border security funding and overhaul immigration policy.

Biden was spending just a few hours in the city, which is currently the biggest corridor for illegal crossings, in large part due to Nicaraguans fleeing repression, crime and poverty in their country. They are among migrants from four countries who are now subject to quick expulsion under new rules enacted by the Biden administration in the past week that drew strong criticism from immigration advocates.

The president also was to visit the El Paso County Migrant Services Center and meet with nonprofits and religious groups that support migrants arriving to the US. It was not clear whether he would talk to any migrants.

Biden's announcement on border security and his visit to the border are aimed in part at quelling the political noise and blunting the impact of upcoming investigations into immigration promised by House Republicans. But any enduring solution will require action by the sharply divided Congress, where multiple efforts to enact sweeping changes have failed in recent years.

From El Paso, Biden was to continue south to Mexico City, where he and the leaders of Mexico and Canada will gather on Monday and Tuesday for a North American leaders summit. Immigration is among the items on the agenda.

In El Paso, where migrants congregate at bus stops and in parks before traveling on, border patrol agents have stepped up security before Biden's visit.

“I think they’re trying to send a message that they’re going to more consistently check people’s documented status, and if you have not been processed they are going to pick you up,” said Ruben Garcia of the Annunciation House aid group in El Paso.

Migrants and asylum-seekers fleeing violence and persecution have increasingly found that protections in the United States are available primarily to those with money or the savvy to find someone to vouch for them financially.

Venezuelan migrant Jose Castillo, who said he travelled without family members for five months from his home on Margarita Island to arrive in El Paso on December 29, said he hoped Biden “will take us into consideration as the human beings we are".

He was among a group of about 30 migrants who gathered for prayers Sunday morning outside the Sacred Heart Catholic Church where many of the newcomers have been camping.

“We have suffered a lot since entering the jungle of the Darien Gap and passing through Mexico. It has all been a battle, battle, battle,” said Castillo. “I know that we are here illegally, but please give us a chance.”

American taxpayers ended up footing the bill after Mexican leaders flatly rejected the idea.