Tries to flip the script

White House tries to flip the script on House Republicans over border crisis

The attacks come as the House speaker and other lawmakers head to the southern border.

By JENNIFER HABERKORN

The Biden administration is attempting to flip the blame for the migrant crisis at the southern border onto Republicans.

In anticipation of Speaker Mike Johnson heading to the U.S. southern border on Wednesday, the White House issued a statement accusing House GOPers of ducking the chance to address the issue they’ve been attacking.

“Actions speak louder than words,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement first obtained by POLITICO ahead of two days of Republican border visits. “House Republicans’ anti-border security record is defined by attempting to cut Customs and Border Protection personnel, opposing President Biden’s record-breaking border security funding, and refusing to take up the President’s supplemental funding request.”

Republicans have been critical of Biden’s handling of the southern border since the beginning of his term, often saying he’s downplayed, neglected or worsened a historic migrant influx through Mexico. They are now aiming to make the border a key 2024 election issue and place responsibility for the increase in migrants at the president’s feet.

The public appears to agree with them. A Pew Research Center poll conducted late last year found that only 32 percent of U.S. adults are very confident or somewhat confident in the president’s ability to make “wise decisions about immigration policy.”

The White House has argued that Republicans carry blame, too. Their point rests on the GOP’s rejection of Biden’s supplemental funding package, which included money to hire new border agents, asylum officers and immigration judges, as well as technology to combat the flow of fentanyl. White House officials also note that Republicans rejected the comprehensive immigration reform plan the president introduced shortly after he took office.

“After voting in 2023 to eliminate over 2,000 Border Patrol agents and erode our capacity to seize fentanyl earlier in 2023, House Republicans left Washington in mid-December even as President Biden and Republicans and Democrats in the Senate remained to forge ahead on a bipartisan agreement,” Bates said.

Bates’ comments illustrate the degree to which the immigration hawks have won the larger debate over the migrant crisis, with each side now competing over who has a more robust and effective approach to security. They also come at a delicate time legislatively.

Senate negotiators are trying to land a bipartisan agreement on policy to help stem the flow of migration and House Republicans are considering impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the issue.

A spokesperson for Johnson dismissed the criticism, saying Biden has been “derelict in his duty to protect” the border.

“While the president requests more funds — not to stop illegal immigration — but to process more illegal immigrants through their ‘catch and release’ policy, he has undermined security at every turn,” said spokesperson Raj Shah. “From his decision to rescind the Remain in Mexico policy to the widespread abuse of the parole and asylum systems, there is a direct line between this administration’s reckless policies and the record 300,000 illegal immigrants encountered at the Southern border last month.”

Johnson’s visit to the border — with dozens of his colleagues — will include a tour Wednesday of a U.S. border patrol facility near Eagle Pass, Texas. On Thursday, the GOP lawmakers will meet with local law enforcement, officials and landowners.

Johnson has previously called on Biden to take executive action on the crossings. He wrote in a letter to the president last month that the southern border “is being overrun” and that the “catastrophe requires your administration’s full attention and commitment.”