Biden flees crisis: travels to Arizona but not to the border; has "more important things" to do

The president has not been to the border since he took office despite the ongoing crisis in the surrounding area.

Joe Biden decided to go to Arizona this Tuesday to visit the facilities of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). It was expected that, being less than 200 miles from the border, he would take the opportunity to make his first visit since he took office. However, the president considered that "more important things are happening" than what can only be described as a migratory crisis.

According to Biden, the Taiwanese company plans to invest "billions of dollars" in new facilities to produce highly advanced microchips. However, immigration experts say this is not enough to bypass a border visit. "What kind of commander-in-chief abandons those on the front line because of politics? The fact is that Joe Biden will not visit the border because he does not want to face the reality of the destruction his policies have caused," said Tom Homan, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Trump Administration and a visiting fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

Gene Hamilton, vice president of America First Legal and former senior advisor to the secretary of Homeland Security, also weighed in, saying that Joe Biden's absence at the border shows that the president is committed "to failure.” "Every nation has the right to protect its borders, and the United States is no different; however, President Biden has presided over a catastrophic collapse of border security unprecedented in modern times," he asserted.

It should be noted that the crisis on the southern border has reached unprecedented levels. A record was in 2021 with 1.7 million people crossing the border illegally. In 2022, that number is set to surpass two million by far.

In addition, las year saw the highest number of illegal immigrants who managed to circumvent border security. Last November alone, it is estimated that more than 73,000 people entered the country illegally and escaped from law enforcement. However, the figure could be higher, as this number is only based on estimates made by non-official authorities.

Despite the evident lack of control at the border, it does not seem that the situation will improve in the near future. I’m fact, after the end of the policy known as Title 42, the entry of illegal immigrants could double.

"The president may be unaware of the carnage he is inflicting, but because he was unable to travel to the Mexican border and see the consequences of his actions and omissions, he and his advisors have only himself and his advisors to blame," said Andrew Arthur, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.