Biden gets raked over the coals for dismissing border visit: 'Head in the sand'
Illegal border crossings have smashed record after record under Biden's administration
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Biden is facing vicious criticism after saying he had "more important things" to do in Arizona than visit the border on Tuesday.
Both Republicans on Capitol Hill and the Border Patrol Union raked the president over the coals for the comments, saying he is not doing his job and is instead burying "his head in the sand." The crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border has only grown more severe under Biden's administration, with border crossings breaking new records each month.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, lambasted the president for never having visited the southern border in comments to Fox News on Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"How the hell would he know? He's never been to the border," Roy told Fox News' Caroline McKee. "It sure is something that's pretty critically important to the people of Texas and frankly to the immigrants that are getting abused and dying. Fifty-three in a tractor-trailer San Antonio, getting raped in stash houses in South Texas."
TEXAS BORDER PATROL STOPS WRONG-WAY DRIVER DURING HUMAN SMUGGLING ATTEMPT; SUSPECT ESCAPES
YUMA, ARIZONA - AUGUST 06: Immigrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the border from Mexico, with the U.S.-Mexico border barrier in the background, on August 6, 2022 in Yuma, Arizona. ((Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images))
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 14: Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) speaks with reporters as he arrives to a House Republican Caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol Building on November 14, 2022 in Washington, DC. Tomorrow House Republicans will hold elections for leadership positions for the 118th congress. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
"Or how about the 72,000 people who died from fentanyl last year? The moms that I have to talk to you every day who's lost a loved one because fentanyl is pouring into our border because he refuses to secure the southern border," he continued. "And, you know, poking his head in the sand isn't gonna actually be enough because he's gonna have to do something about it."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd echoed Roy's tone, saying Biden "cares more about politics than our children."
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"Nothing is more important than the safety and security of the American people, but to President Biden it is an afterthought," Judd told Fox News' Bill Melugin. "With a record number of people and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, crossing our border illegally and evading apprehension, it is apparent Biden cares more about politics than our children, friends and neighbors. Biden’s record clearly proves he cares about politics, not about doing his job of protecting American lives."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The White House defended Biden in a statement to Fox News Digital and suggested that Roy has refused to cooperate with the administration on efforts to address the border.
"The President was clear that his top priority is investing in the American economy and in American communities, out-competing China, and bringing back American jobs from overseas. In fact, as Fox News’ own analysis showed, the economy is the top issue for most Americans," a White House spokesman said. "If anyone believes that shouldn’t be the President’s top priority too, they should say that out loud."
"President Biden is focused on real solutions, not political stunts. And if border security is such a top priority for Republican officials, voting against President Biden’s request for record funding for the Department of Homeland Security, as Representative Roy did, is an odd way to show it," the White House added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Immigration is at the top of the ticket this November as a record number of illegal immigrants continue to cross the border. (John Moore/Getty Images)
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a rally hosted by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) at Richard Montgomery High School on August 25, 2022 in Rockville, Maryland. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Biden is in Arizona on Tuesday to visit Taiwan's TSMC computer chip manufacturing facility in the state.
The U.S. has seen record levels of illegal immigration throughout the Biden administration. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported 230,000 border encounters in October alone, an all-time monthly record that broke the previous record set in September.
September data revealed that fiscal year 2022 ended with 2,378,944 migrant encounters, the highest ever recorded in a fiscal year. That figure does not include the 599,000 known "gotaways" that CBP sources told Fox News evaded capture over the same period.
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The Biden administration has repeatedly sought to dismiss border surges as a yearly pattern. While the southern border has seen a pattern of increases in migration each spring, the surges in both 2021 and 2022 far outpaced previous years, and that pace only escalated throughout the year.