Former President Donald Trump attacked the new administration’s immigration policies on Friday, contending that President Biden has created a “spiraling tsunami at the border” that is hurting people amid a surge in unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the United States-Mexico border.
“A mass incursion into the country by people who should not be here is happening on an hourly basis, getting worse by the minute,” Trump said in a statement, calling the southern border “totally out of control.”
“ICE officers are desperate to remove these convicted criminals, but Biden won’t let them,” Trump said. “The spiraling tsunami at the border is overwhelming local communities, depleting budgets, crowding hospitals, and taking jobs from legal American workers.”
“When I left office, we had achieved the most secure border in our country’s history. Under Biden, it will soon be worse, more dangerous, and more out of control than ever before,” Trump continued, charging that Biden has “violated his oath of office” to uphold the country’s laws.
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“We put in place powerful rules and procedures to stop the smuggling and trafficking, but the Biden Administration has abandoned these proven strategies and instead given the smugglers and traffickers effective control of our border,” the 45th president continued.
He also touted his wall in combating what he called the “nightmare … unleashed” by Democrats.
The statement echoed Trump’s remarks last week at the Conservative Political Action Conference, when he rebuked Biden’s first five weeks in office, charging that the new chief executive’s “radical immigration policies aren’t just illegal, they are immoral, they are heartless, and they are a betrayal of our nation’s core values.”
The White House has defended Biden’s policies.
“All we’re talking about here is ensuring that they are treated safely,” press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday, telling reporters that “many of them will be sent back home.”
An unprecedented surge of unaccompanied migrant children have been apprehended at the southern border this year, according to officials.
Customs and Border Protection anticipates that some 13,000 unaccompanied migrant children will arrive at the border in May, numbers that threaten to overwhelm facilities. Border officials expect 117,000 this year.
The new administration’s use of Trump-era detainment facilities for unaccompanied migrant children has drawn criticism from the Left, as other Democrats urge Biden to take immediate action.
Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, whose Texas district borders Mexico, has warned of an immigration crisis within “weeks, maybe even days,” without action.
Republicans on Friday urged Biden to declare a national emergency proclamation as Trump did in 2019.
The White House has been unwilling to label the issue a crisis, with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas instead calling it a “challenge.”
Mayorkas also blamed Trump for “dismantling” the country’s immigration system while in office.
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Under the Trump administration’s Title 42 rule to expel migrants at the border rapidly, solo adults are sent home.
“The majority of the people who come are turned away,” Psaki said.
