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Donald Trump (l.) and Joe Biden (photo combination): Traveling to the southern border on the same day

Photo: Eric Gay;

Evan Vucci/dpa

It's election season in the USA.

The issue of migration always comes to the fore - especially when the Republicans want to return to power.

US President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump have now tried to score points with separate appearances at the southern border with Mexico.

Trump traveled to Eagle Pass in the state of Texas on Thursday (local time) and accused Biden of total failure in migration policy there.

The Republican presidential candidate said it was the Democrat's fault that the country was being overrun by illegal immigrants.

"He is destroying our country."

Biden, in turn, admitted several hundred kilometers away in Brownsville, Texas, that the situation at the border was difficult.

However, he accused Trump's Republicans of blocking additional resources for border security in Congress - and called for cooperation from both parties.

The number of people coming to the USA illegally has been high for years.

During Biden's term in office, around 2.4 million illegal border crossings were recorded for two years in a row.

Thousands of people come to the USA every day, mostly from Central and Latin America, fleeing poverty and conflict in their home countries.

Last December, the US Border Patrol reported more than 300,000 apprehensions - more than ever before in a month.

The authorities are under pressure.

The justice system can hardly keep up with processing asylum applications.

There is also a lack of accommodation and other resources for the newcomers.

Trump paints a distorted image of criminal immigrants

The treatment of migrants has caused political disputes between Democrats and Republicans for years.

The topic is once again playing a particularly important role in the current presidential election campaign.

Republicans accuse Biden of having lost control of protecting the southern border given the large number of migrants.

That was also Trump's tenor during his visit to the border town of Eagle Pass.

The 77-year-old spoke of a “Joe Biden invasion” and complained that the incumbent was letting thousands and thousands of people into the country who would then commit crimes in the USA.

“They are pouring into our country and bringing enormous problems with them,” Trump complained.

"It's terrible."

The ex-president listed individual cases of brutal crimes committed by immigrants and painted a distorted picture of an America completely taken over by brutal criminals from enemy countries.

Border guards essentially have to conduct a military operation against irregular immigrants, he said.

"It's like a war."

The presidential election in November will result in another duel between Biden and Trump.

During his term in office, Trump was particularly tough on migrants and made sealing the southern border a priority.

For his possible comeback, the Republican promises that he wants to take rigorous action again and, among other things, deport people from the USA on a large scale.

President complains of blockage in Congress

Biden, in turn, initiated a change of course when he took office in 2021 and relaxed many regulations.

At the time, his government sent out the message to migrants: "Don't come now - let's fix the broken system first." But the system was not repaired and the migrants came anyway.

The major turnaround towards a functioning immigration policy did not materialize.

Biden blamed the Republicans in Congress for this.

During his visit to the border, he lamented: “On my first day as president, I introduced a bill in Congress that includes a comprehensive plan to fix the broken immigration system and secure the border.

But nothing was done.”

Parts of the Republican Party also collapsed a deal recently concluded between a group of Democrats and Republicans to better equip the US border guard.

However, large sections of Republicans probably have no interest in improving the situation at the border.

After all, the issue can be used for election campaigns: with migrants as the supposed bogeyman and the Democrats as the supposedly responsible party.

Biden, who wants to run for a second term in the presidential election in November, nevertheless called for a willingness to compromise and bipartisanship.

Addressing Trump, Biden said: "Instead of playing political games with the issue, we should come together and get this done."

jok/dpa