White House: Biden wants ‘firsthand perspectives’ from Border Patrol agents
Haisten Willis
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The White House on Friday said President Joe Biden is visiting the southern border in part to hear from Border Patrol agents in the area who work to enforce immigration.
Biden is taking a controversial trip to the border on Sunday, which was long called for by Republicans but is generating some resistance among Democrats.
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White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked about the optics of the visit.
“There’s reporting that El Paso has cleared the downtown of these expansive migrant camps that have grown there in advance of the president’s arrival,” a reporter asked. “Is the president going to see a sanitized version of El Paso when he arrives at the border on Sunday?”
Kirby said seeing the border firsthand is a top priority for Biden, who has never visited the border as president or during his run as vice president.
“The president is very much looking forward to seeing for himself firsthand what the border security situation looks like, particularly in El Paso,” Kirby said. “He’s very much also looking forward to getting a chance to talk to customs and Border Patrol agents on the ground who are actually involved in this mission to get firsthand perspectives of it.”
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A Border Patrol agent assigned to the El Paso region was shot on Thursday while attempting to make a traffic stop in New Mexico and is in stable condition.
There have also been reports of low morale among Border Patrol agents who are overwhelmed with the number of people attempting to cross the border each day.