Biden, Trump and a Split Screen at the Texas Border

from The New York Times I'm Sabrina. tavernes and this is the. [Music]. daily on Thursday the two presumptive. nominees for President Joe Biden and. Donald Trump traveled to Texas where. they gave dueling speeches on what is. shaping up to be perhaps the most. important issue in the 2024 election the. flow of migrants across the.

border today my colleague White House. correspondent zolen Keno Young's on. Biden's risky bid to take Trump's. biggest advantage and use it against. him it's Friday March. [Music]. 1st so Zulan both President Biden and. former president Trump visit visited the.

Border in Texas on Thursday and you know. it's 6 p.m. they just finished talking. and it was kind of this split screen. performance right these dueling speeches. one after the other tell us what. happened well these dueling trips to the. Border really do show us that we are in. the general election at this point the. fact that both of the likely nominees. chose to travel to the Border really. does show you just how much immigration.

has rised to be one of the most. important concerns amongst voters and. recent polling also shows that and that. coincides with a record number of. Crossings at the Southwest border and. it's not just limited to States along. the border but you have migrant surges. in cities throughout the United States. and it's increasingly becoming a huge. political vulnerability for the White. House and you see the former president. trying to seize on that vulnerability.

okay so that's why these two men go down. there what do they say when they're down. there describe the scene for me what you. saw were two different leaders who in. very different ways tried to convince. Americans that they are best suited to. address this humanitarian issue that's. great Governor thank you very much. everybody this is an. honor so for the former president he. goes to Eagle Pass Texas standing just. near the Rio Grand walls and wheels I.

always said it's one thing never gets. obsolete a wall and a wheel he's near a. makeshift border barrier topped with. razor wire as well so you see the Optics. of trying to look tough on the border. and he once again tried to seize on this. issue to stoke division in hate just. four days ago an illegal alien in. Louisiana was arrested for brutally. raping a 14-year-old girl while holding. a knife to her throat and he then. allegedly robbed a man who was getting.

out of his car in front of his home and. repeatedly stabbed him in the face in. the back in the face many many times and. he even used sort of warlike language. when describing this issue incredible. and I'll say this uh it's a military. operation he called it a military. operation I mean we have a milit this is. like a war so you definitely saw the. former president sort of return to that. anti-immigration strategy to attack.

it's an honor to have your support and. your endorsement and likewise me to you. thank you very much great to be here. thank. you so essentially today we saw Trump. being Trump on immigration you know. doubling down on the same demagogy that. he's been using really since he first. declared his Run for the presidency back. in 2016 right the rhetoric is familiar. but let's be clear what the former. president is planning if he's elected. would go even further than the policies.

that we saw when he was in office my. colleagues have reported already that. former president Trump is drawing up. policies that take his immigration. Crackdown even further he's planning on. sending agents out into the country to. round up undocumented immigrants scale. up as well giant camps to detain. undocumented immigrants reinstitute. travel banss as well including the. travel banss that were against Muslim. majority country R when he was in office.

they're even considering trying to end. Birthright citizenship which basically. says that babies born in the United. States to undocumented parents would be. entitled to American citizenship without. a doubt while former president Trump's. remarks today may seem familiar you. should know that what he's planning if. he's elected to office would take his. anti-immigration agenda a step further. okay so that's the Trump side of the. split screen what did Biden do so in a.

way when you look at President Biden's. remarks it was very different oh. folks uh good. afternoon before we start for one he. wasn't in front of barriers or razor. wire he was inside a government facility. standing alongside border patrol agents. outlining a bill that was recently. negotiated in the Senate then months ago. my team began a serious negotiation a. bipartisan group of senators Democrat.

leading conservative Republicans and. this legislation would have enacted some. of the more conservative changes to the. border that we've seen in decades it's. the toughest set of border security. reforms we've ever seen in this country. it's pretty basic rapidly turning away. migrants at the border also making it. more difficult for migrants to obtain. Asylum at the border as well as. bolstering resources at the border it. had a lot of the measures that.

Republicans have been calling for for. years but House Republicans taking a. queue from former president Trump tanked. that legislation many of them would. prefer that it was an issue that could. be used to attack the president and. didn't want to deliver him a policy win. in an election year and today you saw. President Biden criticizing them for it. it's time for the speakers and some of. my Republican friends in Congress who. are blocking this bill to show a little. spy.

saying that they were putting politics. over actually solutions to this let's. remember who we work for for God's sake. we work for the American people but then. towards the end of his remarks I. understand my predecessors Eagle Pass. today so here's what I would say to Mr. Trump we heard something that I haven't. heard before a direct dare to former. president Trump to actually join. President Biden in working together to. actually address this issue join me or.

I'll join you in telling the Congress to. pass this bpress and border security. bill we can do it together you know and. I know it's the toughest most efficient. most effective border security bill this. country has ever seen and there you. really see possibly more so than we've. seen thus far in the Biden era President. Biden directly challenging the border. security bonafides of the former. president there's nothing nothing beyond.

our capacity nothing when we work. together and if all things we should be. working together on is this we have the. formula to get it done God bless you all. and may God protect our border patrol. and God protect our troops now I'd like. to turn this over to secretary my orcus. thank. [Applause]. you as someone who's been covering this. you know for some years now I didn't. expect something that was as direct as.

those comments today and it not only. shows just how much Democrats are sort. of intent on emphasizing border security. in this election season but it also. affirmed that the White House is really. going to lean into the strategy of going. on the offensive on border security so. this is interesting so Biden is not only. saying that he too cares about border. security and he wants to really crack. down on Crossing you know something we.

haven't heard from Democrats so much of. late but now he's turning it around on. the Republicans right actually going on. the offensive saying you know not only. am I tough on this they're actually weak. on this like they're the ones who won't. do anything to fix it they're the. problem it's on them they're the ones. that are neglecting this crisis we are. the ones that are actually proposing. solutions for this but I have to say. this is really going to be challenging. for the White House and President Biden.

you have this sort of real difficult. Balancing Act of explaining the. legislative challenges and talking about. your legislative proposals for this. crisis but that's going up against. Trump's strategy of stoking Division and. stoking anger on this issue former. president Trump has proven that he can. Galvanize his base with his strategy. whether or not this works that's. something to watch moving forward right. it's kind of a triple axle right like. like when you think about he's trying to. get a regular voter to see the Border.

crisis to look at what's happening on. the border and instead of just blaming. the guy in charge him he's asking that. voter to understand that there was this. bipartisan Bill in Congress that Biden. himself had endorsed it was prepared to. sign it that you know he would have been. tough on Border issues but that the. Republicans wouldn't bring it to a vote. because Trump didn't want them to you. know it's not a simple message it's much. easier for Trump all he has to do is say. hey The Border's a mess The Other Guys. in charge blame him yes I think that's.

right even listening to his remarks. today there's layers to it. right he's sort of trying to outline the. legislative challenges here which is to. be fair very Biden but without a doubt. what was surprising again is for most of. his time in office immigration in the. Border has been a thorn in the. president's side almost a political. headache something that Democrats tried. to distance themselves from now you're. seeing them lean in and emphasize border.

security and almost say we are the ones. that will address this. [Music]. issue we'll be right. back so Zulan how did we get here I mean. how did we go from Biden avoiding this. immigration issue like the plague to. kind of tiptoeing into it to now trying. to use it as a cudle against Trump.

I mean to understand this you you really. have to go back to Biden's 2020. campaign we believe in freedom of. religion that's why I will end the. Muslim ban this was of course after the. anti-immigration agenda that President. Trump implemented that included a travel. ban against Muslim majority countries. they got separated from their parents. and it makes us a laughing stock and. violates every notion of who we are as a. nation and that included extreme.

policies at the border such as family. separation that Democrats spent their. time during the 2020 campaign condemning. so of course coming into office you had. Democrats using language that was much. more pro-immigration within 100 days I'm. going to send to the United States. Congress a pathway to citizenship for. over 11 million undocumented people and. you heard the president pledge to. restore Humanity order compassion to the. the immigration system and those who.

come seeking Asylum we should. immediately have the capacity to absorb. them keep them safe until they can be. heard. 15 but practically on the ground there. were some Trump air policies that did. stay in place that included something. known as title 42 this was a pandemic. emergency rule that essentially sealed. the border to Asylum Seekers the. administration also began to Deport. Haitian migrants back to Haiti as well.

and there were photos of border patrol. agents trying to keep migrants from. entering into the country right I. remember that so while rhetorically we. were hearing often about compassion and. Humanity on the ground we were seeing. once again a Reliance on. deterrence okay so during the campaign. in 2020 he was kind of speaking the. language of the left in large part as a. reaction to the extreme policies that. Trump had enacted but he quickly.

moderated yeah that's right and even. though some of those policies were in. place the number of Crossings continued. to grow some of that's outside of the. president's control I mean in the wake. of the pandemic of climate change of a. global migration Trend as well as the. perception that the election of. President Biden would mean a more. welcoming approach to the Border you had. National ities from all over the world.

attempting to cross into the United. States and so as this problem continued. to grow worse and crossings continue to. Surge the pressure is really building on. the White House Republicans relentlessly. are asking President Biden when he's. going to go to the Border I was actually. with vice president kamla Harris when. she traveled to Guatemala to address the. root causes of migration and even there. she was being asked why are you here and. not at the US Mexico border and.

initially you know those requests were. dismissed by top White House officials. as that's just going to be sort of. political theater but eventually they. did succumb to the pressure and each. make a visit to the border so Biden and. Harris go to the Border eventually but. there's a real reluctance to engage with. this at all publicly yeah that's right. so Republicans at the time really did. sense an opening and in the spring of. 2022 we have a pivotal moment that we.

all know well by now this is when Texas. governor Greg Abbott starts to put. vulnerable migrant families and bust. them to cities led by democrats right. this continues to escalate I remember. getting a call one morning from a source. who said that a bus of migrants had been. dropped off in front of the vice. president's residents as well oh my. goodness and you know and it is. important to remember much of this was. happening with without giving a heads up.

to some of the organizations or or. officials in these cities one result. though is this only exacerbates a. humanitarian crisis but also a political. crisis for the White House and it causes. of course a crisis for these cities. right I mean we've covered this in New. York mayor Eric Adams and Governor hokel. you know are up in arms they're. demanding funding from the federal. government they're even going to Mexico. to say don't come exactly so now you. have Democratic mayors that are saying.

they're concerned not just about their. Municipal budgets but also the political. pressure that they are facing as well as. more and more migrants are bust into. these cities and as a result many of. those Democratic leaders turn that. pressure back on the White House and say. we need to get some control over this. issue right they're criticizing the. Biden Administration directly like it's. not just Republican officials it's his. own party coming after him for this. that's exactly right and look after a.

legal fight title 42 was lifted and the. administration is scrambling for. solutions to the border and then this. interesting thing happens which is that. the issue of the Border no longer just. impacts immigration and the president's. domestic agenda but also threatens to. impact his foreign policy agenda Biden. and the White House have seen rallying. support for Ukraine as one of his crown. achievements but Republicans.

increasingly make it clear that if he. wants to continue to do that they will. only support him if he moves forward. with changes at the border so while it. might have seemed like the Republicans. were actually forcing Biden to address. the Border actually Biden wanted to. address the border for all the reasons. you're describing and this was his. chance to do it right so publicly you. would hear the White House at this point. say look we need to pass this aid for.

Ukraine lives are at stake overseas and. the White House officials think that's. true absolutely but I also talked to. president's allies to Democrats who were. saying hey look these negotiations here. actually may present an opportunity this. may be a way to enact some of the. policies that maybe in closed door. meetings we've discussed that we want. that we need but in the past couldn't. speak about publicly because of the.

backlash you would get from immigration. Advocates and the progressive flank of. the party but also it could be a way for. the president to say look Republicans. you guys have criticized me over this. crisis throughout my presidency well. here's a solution and it not only will. be key for my foreign policy agenda but. it also is a way to actually Implement. some of the restrictions that have been. so polarized Rising within the party in. past years but now is the time where we.

have an opportunity to implement some of. those border. restrictions so Senate Democrats and. Senate Republicans at this point are. working out a bill that would turn away. many Asylum Seekers make it harder to. gain Asylum while increasing resources. at the border the White House is sort of. behind Senate Democrats continuing to. support that bill and you're also seeing. the president lean in a bit more into. these negotiations towards the end of.

last year while facing questions from. reporters there was a pivotal moment. where he said no I am open to. significant compromises at the border. yeah so this is the big shift right I. mean Biden is now seeing the immigration. issue and he's endorsing some very very. restrictive policies On the Border not. as a concession he's willing to make you. know just to get Ukraine funding he's. actually seeing these very restrictive.

policies as good politics for him within. his own party right and we continue to. see the White House go even further um. in this direction when the House. Republicans sync this bill taking a. queue from former president Trump who. preferred that it be uh an issue to be. used against the White House rather than. a policy win uh for for President Biden. you start to see the white house uh. continue to lean in he echoed was the. language once used by the Trump.

Administration saying look if you had. sent me this bill I would shut down the. border right and that leads to today. where you have really seen them try to. attempt this offensive strategy remember. visiting the Border was once something. that was almost taboo within the party. you did it when you faced calls uh to. visit but now you have President Biden. going using the Border as a backdrop and. saying no longer will the Democratic. party be accused of not putting forward.

solutions to this crisis but actually. it's the Republicans that are neglecting. what is one of the more pressing issues. in this. nation okay so that explains why Biden. had decided to go on the offensive on. this issue but as we said this is very. hard right so so let's play this out if. this somehow Works what will Biden's. immigration strategy look like I mean. for Biden to be on the offensive on this.

difficult issue as the campaign really. ramps up well I think that you can. expect him to continue to call Congress. to do something about this but but let's. be clear they they are considering going. at this themselves as well my colleagues. and I reported last week that the white. house right now is considering executive. actions that would essentially replicate. some of what was being negotiated in. that Senate bipartisan bill so that. includes measures that would make it.

harder for migrants to obtain Asylum at. the border and essentially allowing the. president to shut down the Border if. Crossings surpassed a certain demount so. that would be I mean a drastic change. very radical right I mean it would be. some of the most conservative. restrictive changes we've we've seen uh. definitely under the Biden white house. but this is challenging this is tricky. right so for throughout the Biden. presidency Republicans have been saying.

there's more you can do on the border by. yourself even though the president has. said Congress needs to take action on. this issue basically making the point. that hey guy if you're doing this now. why didn't you do it three years ago. right why didn't you do it three years. ago right and I've already been told by. border patrol agents and Trump allies. that that is something that they would. question the White House on if they. issue these executive actions and then. then also he would face pressure as well.

from the progressive flank of his party. you already have progressives that have. said this strategy by the White House is. sort of playing a game designed by. Republicans in a way remember. progressives and Democrats have. historically called for legalization as. a trade-off for border security so if he. moves forward with these actions you. have to wonder would he face even more. pressure from the progressive flank of. his party so he's getting squeezed. politically and then even if he was. going to take action here there's also a.

question about whether he would even be. able to implement it executive actions. when it comes to immigration often run. into legal trouble they often run into. the courts so even if he were to go at. it alone you're likely going to see a. legal fight. ensue okay so this is very fraught on a. number of different fronts and you know. if it kind of backfires really it leaves. him out there in the wind drawing lots.

of attention to his biggest. vulnerability right in front of the. whole country like he could end up. looking really bad not just to the. people who want him to be tough on the. border but also to the progressives who. are mad that he's trying to do this in. the first place I think that's right I. mean one thing that is certain about. this shift this strategy by the White. House is it's going to put the spotlight. on this crisis it's going to put the. spotlight on this issue it's going to. put the spotlight on a policy that.

historically Republicans have wanted. more attention on so look the White. House has been squeezed On the Border in. Immigration since President Biden came. into office there's no easy solutions. for really addressing it and all of that. amounts to why it's one of the more. frustrating issues uh that he currently. has but then again if and it's a big if. of course Biden is able to pull off that. Highwire Act of turning this issue back.

on the Republicans and Trump. specifically it will have neutralized. what has been a very potent issue for. the Republicans which would kind of. justify the risk right I think that's. right and that's certainly what the. White House is hoping for this is all. part of an effort to sort of do a course. correction in a way and sort of meet. Americans where they're at and you know. polls indicate that Americans do want. more restrictions at the border just. polling this week showed that.

immigration has surpassed the economy um. as the most important issue right now in. this election cycle other polling as. well showed that Americans do support. some of the measures the restrictive. measures that were in that bipartisan. Senate bill so you can see sort of why. the White House is attempting this shift. so actually weirdly this issue that's. been so contentious in our country is. becoming something of a consensus. issue in a way yeah I mean I still think.

this is one of the more intractable. divisive issues facing the country many. public officials prefer to attack their. opponents over it rather than actually. solve. it but moving beyond just the politics. moving beyond just today look you're. right there's increasing support for. border security measures in this country. when you look at both parties. and when you have the two leaders of.

each respective party that are both. emphasizing that they are the right ones. to implement those border security. measures it's safe to assume that. there's increasing momentum for major. changes to the way that our country. welcomes Asylum Seekers at the. border so thank you thank.

[Music]. you we'll be right. back here's what else you should know. today a federal court blocked a Texas. law that would allows state and local. police officers to arrest migrants.

Crossing in from Mexico without. authorization the law had been set to. take effect on March 5th the ruling was. a victory for the Biden Administration. which had argued that the law would. violate Federal statutes and the. Constitution which gives authority over. immigration matters to the federal. government Texas governor Greg Abbott. has aggressively worked to create a. state level system of Border enforcement. he said he would appeal the decision. immediately.

and a convoy of trucks carrying food Aid. into Gaza City was overrun by thousands. of desperate gazans in the early hours. of Thursday. morning prompting chaos and a response. from nearby Israeli soldiers that left. more than a 100 people dead and another. 700 wounded the details of what happened. were still unclear as of Thursday night. gazen authorities blamed the Israeli. soldiers saying that the deaths were.

caused by gunshot wounds Israeli. officials countered saying that the. majority of those who had died had been. killed in a stampede several hundred. yards away Gins in the north of the. territory have become increasingly. desperate for food as the United Nations. and other relief groups have been. largely unable to bring supplies due to. impassible roads risk from military. operations and increasingly lawlessness.

and breakdown of social order after. nearly five months of. War today's episode was produced by. Shannon Lynn and CLA teniser with help. from Sydney Harper and Kate lessy it was. edited by Paige cowt and Michael benoa. with help from Brendan clink BG contains. original music by Maran Lozano and was. engineered by Alyssa Moxley our theme. music is by Jim brunberg and Ben Lanser. of.

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renan barelli Maddie massiello Isabella. Anderson and Nina. lassam that's it for the daily I'm. Sabrina tavernes see you on. Monday.