Former President Donald Trump plans to join Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) during a visit to the southern border on June 30, according to a statement from Trump’s official website.
Trump said he accepted an invitation from Abbott to “visit to our Nation’s decimated Southern Border.”
“The Biden Administration inherited from me the strongest, safest, and most secure border in U.S history and in mere weeks they turned it into the single worst border crisis in U.S history. It’s an unmitigated disaster zone,” Trump said.
“We went from detain-and-remove to catch-and-release. We went from having border security that was the envy of the world to a lawless border that is now pitied around the world.”
Illegal border crossings continue to climb after President Joe Biden took office in January. Border Patrol apprehended 180,000 illegal aliens in May, the highest total in 21 years. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the majority, more than 112,000, were expelled under the Title 42 emergency health provision put in place under Trump.
Upon taking office, Biden revoked, put on hold, or partly rescinded dozens of executive actions Trump put in place to stem the flow of illegal aliens.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Biden over his handling of the border. Biden subsequently said the situation on the border is a “crisis.”
“Biden and Harris have handed control of our border over to cartels, criminals, and coyotes,” Trump said, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris, who Biden tasked with handling the border crisis.
“What Biden and Harris have done, and are continuing to do on our border, is a grave and willful dereliction of duty. My visit will hopefully shine a spotlight on these crimes against our Nation—and show the incredible people of ICE and Border Patrol that they have our unshakeable support.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump implemented Title 42 in March 2020, effectively closing the border to “nonessential” travel in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.
It allowed for Border Patrol to turn back illegal border-crossers almost immediately, rather than going through the more protracted deportation proceedings.
The Biden administration has already exempted unaccompanied minors and many family units from Title 42, whereas single adults from Spanish-speaking nations are almost all still subject to immediate expulsion, according to Troy Miller, acting commissioner for CBP. But Border Patrol is also encountering more illegal aliens from non-Spanish speaking nations, Brazil and Haiti in particular, which Miller suggested aren’t being expelled.
The number of unaccompanied minors and individuals within family units dropped in May compared to April, but still made up more than 33,000 apprehensions.
The Title 42 restrictions have triggered a higher than normal recidivism rate of illegal crossings as single adults repeatedly attempt to cross and evade capture, according to CBP.
During the month of May, 38 percent of Border Patrol apprehensions were individuals who had at least one prior encounter in the previous 12 months. The average one-year re-encounter rate during the previous five years was roughly 15 percent, CBP said.
In addition, Border Patrol detected, but didn’t capture, more than 51,000 illegal border-crossers in May, according to statistics obtained by The Epoch Times.
Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times
