Former President Donald Trump could “soon” visit the U.S.-Mexico border as the Biden administration struggles to contain the influx of migrants crossing into the country, according to senior adviser Jason Miller.
“We discussed that recently, I could see him doing that soon,” Miller said when asked whether the president was planning a trip to the border during an interview with The Michael Berry Show.
“I think there’s a very fine line between calling someone out on policies and then appearing to do something that’s showboating or give Joe Biden an opportunity to point and say, ‘See this isn’t serious, look at President Trump down at the border making a scene out of this’,” Miller added. “And so not immediately but I could see a trip at some point in the future here. But it is something that President Trump is really concerned about.”
On Thursday, Trump appeared on the Fox News Channel to react to President Biden’s comments about the border crisis during the first press conference of his administration. The former president called conditions inside migrant facilities “inhumane,” adding that, “These children and people are, tremendous number of children by the way, and they are living on top of each other. In squalor. It is squalor.”
“They’re living in very dangerous conditions, there’s no testing for COVID-19,” the former president added. “That’s why they won’t allow the press to come in. We let the press go in.”
As of Friday, roughly 18,000 unaccompanied migrant minors are in U.S. custody, including close to 5,500 held in Border Patrol facilities, CBS News reports. Various facilities are plagued by extreme overcrowding, while some migrants have been let into the country without first testing for the coronavirus.
On Wednesday, Biden announced that Vice President Kamala Harris would oversees the border crisis.
“I can think of nobody who is better qualified to do this,” the president said. “When she speaks, she speaks for me. Doesn’t have to check with me,” Biden said. “She knows what she’s doing, and I hope we can move this along.”
However, her staff clarified Friday that Vice President Harris will not be in charge of combating the crisis, but rather she will lead diplomatic efforts to address migration issues in Central America.
“I will just reiterate that the vice president is not doing the border,” White House chief spokesperson Symone Sanders said.
“The president asked the vice president to take on the diplomatic effort, with Mexico and countries in the northern triangle to address the root causes of migration,” Sanders continued. “There are many reasons that move these folks to make this dangerous journey.”
“This is not work that will be addressed overnight,” she added. “This is a challenging situation, as you heard the vice president and president speak to, but it’s it’s diplomatic work that needs to be done and Vice President Harris is ooking forward to doing it.”