Biden Visits Arizona, But Skips the Border Because He Has “More Important Things Going On”
During the last fiscal year, which ended on September 30, some 2.4 million illegal aliens were encountered crossing the border (many of whom were subsequently released into the country), and an additional 600,000 were detected entering illegally, but eluded apprehension. That’s 3 million people crossing the border illegally in a single year – an unprecedented surge that is directly attributable to policies put in place by President Joe Biden and his administration.
Thus, with the southern border raging out of control, many people might have expected President Biden to get a firsthand look at what is going on during a December trip to Arizona – you know, being in the neighborhood and all. But, no, despite being less than a hundred miles from the border, the president declined to visit, “Because there are more important things going on,” he told reporters. Like what? He didn’t say, but his press spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, argued that such border visits are nothing more than “political stunts.”
Arizona is, of course, one of the hottest of the hot spots along the border. The area around Yuma saw a 171 percent increase in illegal crossings between 2021 and 2022, and the surge shows no sign of abating. Additionally, Arizona is Ground Zero for the smuggling of dangerous narcotics into the United States. Some 15,000 pounds of the lethal drug fentanyl were seized at the border during the first ten months of the calendar year 2022. It is safe to assume that many times that amount was brought across the border and distributed around the country. Fentanyl is responsible for more than 100,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.
The raging crisis at the border is also a national security issue. Among the more than 230,000 illegal migrants encountered at the border in October, 40 of them were on the Department of Homeland Security’s terrorist watch list. Border Patrol agents tell FAIR that those 40 represent only the tip of the iceberg as many more are sophisticated enough to elude capture on the way into the country. Additionally, the cross-border fentanyl trade is controlled by China and the Mexican drug cartels – entities whose interests are inimical to those of the United States, and are enriching themselves at our expense.
With Republicans now in control of the House of Representatives, FAIR will press for decisive action to reassert control of our borders and hold an administration, beginning with the president, accountable for the consequences of their policies.