US President Biden determined to close the Mexican border

US President Joe Biden spoke about the border security issue, one of the country's main agenda items, during his election campaign in South Carolina.

Stating that he would immediately close the US-Mexico border if the border security bill proposed by the administration to Congress is approved, Biden said, "A bipartisan bill would be good for America. Congress needs to pass it to help fix our broken immigration system and provide quick access to those who deserve to be here."

"IF THE BILL HAD BECOME LAW, I WOULD HAVE CLOSED THE BORDER IMMEDIATELY AND FIXED IT QUICKLY"

Biden expressed that the bill would grant him, as president, emergency authority to close the border until it is brought back under control, saying, "If this bill were law today, I would close the border immediately and fix it quickly." The bill submitted by the Biden administration to Congress grants the President the authority to close the border if the number of irregular migrants crossing the border exceeds 5,000 per day. The bill also requires the approval of a 110 billion dollar emergency aid package, which includes 14 billion dollars for creating new patrol forces to ensure security at the border, as well as the hiring of personnel and equipment to expedite the processing of irregular migrants.

Republicans, who criticize Biden for not protecting the borders, are particularly opposed to the military aid item for Ukraine contained within the package. On the other hand, US Border Patrol officials announced that they detained nearly 250,000 irregular migrants who crossed the border last month, a 31 percent increase compared to November, and that the number of irregular migrants crossing the border exceeded 10,000 on some days.

'BARBED WIRE' CRISIS

It was reported that among the irregular migrants caught in December, Mexicans were the majority with 56,000, followed by Venezuelan migrants with nearly 47,000. Meanwhile, the "barbed wire crisis" between the Biden administration and Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott continues.

Following the US Supreme Court's decision to remove the barbed wire installed by Texas along the Rio Grande River on the Mexican border, the dispute between Texas Governor Abbott and President Joe Biden had escalated.

Despite the court ruling, the Texas National Guard did not allow the US Border Patrol to do its job on January 23 and continued to install barbed wire, while the governors of 25 Republican states also announced in a joint statement that they stood with Texas.