President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump had a split-screen moment during dual trips to the border on Thursday.
The likely frontrunners for their respective party's nomination in 2024 were about 300 miles apart in Texas — Biden was in Brownsville and Trump visited Eagle Pass. Immigration has dominated the early part of the 2024 campaign and both candidates have pointed a finger at the other on the issue.
Both Trump and Biden got tours of the border and met with local officials during their visits.
Here's what else happened:
- What Trump is saying: The former president has made Biden's handling of illegal immigration a centerpiece of his reelection effort. He has also vowed to conduct the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history” if he wins the White House in November. Trump continued those attacks during remarks at the border, stoking fears about migrants and crime and blaming it on Biden. He praised Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has tried to implement a new controversial security initiative.
- What Biden is saying: The president's trip came as he considers sweeping executive action to restrict migrants’ ability to seek asylum if they crossed illegally. Biden has repeatedly lambasted congressional Republicans for failing to pass a bipartisan compromise spending package that included significant concessions on border policy. Bipartisanship was a big theme of his remarks. He urged the Senate to reconsider the package and asked Trump to "join" him in finding an immigration solution.
- About this bipartisan deal: The deal was killed in the Senate earlier this month, largely due to opposition from Trump. It included a new emergency authority that would allow the Homeland Security secretary to shut down the border if certain triggers are met, raised the legal standard of proof to pass the initial screening for asylum, among other measures.
- Meanwhile: A federal judge in Texas ruled to suspend enforcement of a controversial law that would allow state law enforcement agents to arrest and detain people they suspect of entering the country illegally. Without action from the court, the law was set to go into effect on Tuesday.