EL PASO, USA, Jan 8 President of the United States Joe Biden, for the first time since the beginning of his reign, came to the southern border of the country in order to assess the scale of the migration crisis on the spot, the correspondent reports.
The presidential airliner landed in the border city of El Paso, where Biden was met by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, one of the main critics of the current Democratic administration's migration policy.
It is through El Paso that a significant part of illegal migrants tries to enter the USA, many of whom settle in tent camps in the city center. Abbott before Biden's arrival criticized the federal authorities and the city hall, which is also headed by a Democrat, for hastily removing illegal immigrants from the streets.
At the airport, Biden spoke to Abbott, but the journalists did not hear the contents of the conversation. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Majorcas and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is assigned to deal with the migration crisis, flew to El Paso with the president.
Last week, Biden announced his intention to send additional forces to the southern border and ordered to expand the practice of accelerated deportation of illegal migrants, but at the same time, he proposed legally allowing 30,000 immigrants from Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti into the country every month. Another innovation should be an online pre-registration system that will streamline the arrival of migrants at border checkpoints to apply for asylum.
In 2022, the number of illegal immigrants trying to enter the United States has reached almost 2.4 million people compared to 450,000 two years earlier.
After visiting El Paso, Biden will travel to Mexico for a summit of North American leaders, where the issue of migration in the region will also be discussed.