Biden administration trounces Texas, Arizona in battle of busing, flying migrants across U.S. border
With Donald Trump at his side, Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday launched an all-out offensive to boost the president’s border security push by rolling out what amounts to a busing program to move migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in from Central America.
Biden’s plan, which he unveiled along with Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, would use cash assistance and busing to help families who want to cross into the U.S. The White House, which for weeks has been staking its case on the need to build a border wall to stop would-be migrants from coming across, has been lukewarm on the idea.
“We can do this because the American people will understand,” Biden said, while flanked by Johnson, who he called the “most capable secretary of Homeland Security” he had ever served with. “The idea is not to send thousands of people across the border illegally, but to get them the right kind of education to make us as effective at dealing with them as possible.”
The vice president’s appearance at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. with Johnson marked his first public appearance of the Trump administration’s new year, which the administration has been trying to avoid. Earlier this week, Trump met with Republican members of Congress in an effort to find an immigration compromise.
Biden’s focus on the issue – one of the first issues that Trump has had to deal with in office – was a striking choice. During a trip to the region shortly after Trump was elected, Biden spoke at a Democratic-led event in El Paso, Texas, which has a large number of migrant families from Central America who are entering the U.S. on temporary visas.
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“America is open for business and the American people are counting on us to make sure that we’re protecting the border,” Biden told the crowd at the event on Jan. 23. “I think I’ll take issue with you if I think that this was not a priority for you.”
The White House quickly went in on Biden’s