White House officials introduced a new term for illegal immigrants, referring to them as “newcomers” ahead of President Joe Biden’s visit to Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday. The “newcomers” language appeared as part of a fact sheet discussing the Biden-backed Senate agreement on Ukraine and border funding.
The government’s use of the term “newcomers” — obfuscating the difference between legal and illegal immigrants — was met with robust criticism from House Republicans. Members of the House GOP conference have termed Biden’s approach to the border crisis as a “designed catastrophe.” Republicans argue that the drafted border bill would normalize high levels of unlawful immigration and achieve little in terms of curbing crossings at the border and drug trafficking.
Biden government officials have pushed back against critics of the legislation. They argue it represents a “genuine commitment” to border security. The bill proposes expanding the Border Patrol staff, amending asylum rules, strengthening law enforcement’s authority to tackle drug smuggling, expanding visa and guest worker programs, and providing increased funding to cities and states accommodating asylum seekers.
President Joe Biden visited Brownsville, Texas — near the U.S.-Mexico border — on Thursday. The Texas town, however, has seen very few crossings compared to other locations. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump visited Eagle Pass, Texas, earlier on Thursday — the most heavily trafficked crossing in the state.
