Biden and Trump both heading to the southern border on Thursday

Migrants cross the Matamoros-Brownsville International Bridge into the United States after obtaining an appointment to legally enter the country on May 12, 2023 in Brownsville, Texas. It is unknown what will happen in terms of the flow of migrants now that the Title 42 policy expired, which for the past three years has allowed for the quick expulsion of irregular migrants entering the country. (Photo by Joe Raedle | Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will visit the southern border in Texas on Thursday, according to a White House official, the same day as the GOP presidential front-runner, Donald Trump.

Their visits are a sign of the importance the immigration issue has assumed in what’s expected to be a 2024 rematch in November between Biden and Trump.

During the trip to Brownsville, Texas, Biden will meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement and local leaders to “discuss the urgent need to pass the Senate bipartisan border security agreement, the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border in decades,” according to a White House official speaking on background.

“He will reiterate his calls for Congressional Republicans to stop playing politics and to provide the funding needed for additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, fentanyl detection technology and more,” the White House official said in a statement.

Senate Republicans earlier this month walked away from the bipartisan border deal they brokered with the White House, following Trump’s objection to the plan that would drastically overhaul U.S. immigration law. House Republicans also insisted they would not take up the Senate package.

As the Biden administration deals with the largest number of migrant encounters at the southern border in more than 20 years, Trump’s campaign platform aims to stoke fears surrounding immigration — as he previously did for his 2016 presidential campaign.

The visit follows House Republicans’ impeachment, on a second try, of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, over the GOP’s opposition to Biden administration immigration policies.

More than 300 miles away from Biden, Trump will visit Eagle Pass, Texas, which CNN first reported, on Thursday, following his GOP primary win in South Carolina last weekend.

He is also expected to win Michigan’s presidential primary on Tuesday.

Biden is also planning to meet with congressional leaders Tuesday about passing the global securities supplemental package to unlock aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and avoid a partial government shutdown Friday, according to the White House.

Those leaders he’ll meet with at the White House include Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

This will be Biden’s second trip to the southern border. His first visit to the border was in January 2023.

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