Biden says ‘I did everything I could at the border’: President says ‘give me the power, give me the patrol, give me the judges’ in rant outside White House as Congress negotiates immigration bill

President Joe Biden said he has done “everything I can do” on the border, arguing that it was up to Congress to give him more power to “make it work right.”

The president went on a rampage across the border outside the White House on Tuesday as he prepared to leave for a fundraising trip to wealthy Palm Beach, Florida. Meanwhile, Congress continues to negotiate a border bill, which Biden has already approved, even as final details are still being worked out.

“I did everything I could do,” Biden said. ‘Give me the power. I’ve been asking since the day I took office. Give me the Border Patrol, give me the judges, give me the people who can stop this and make it work.”

The crisis at the southern border has become a political hot potato for Biden and a winning issue for Republicans ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

The Senate is working on a compromise bill after Senate Republicans linked Biden’s request for more funding for Ukraine to more border control.

But negotiations in the Senate stalled when Donald Trump announced he did not support the measure and Speaker Mike Johnson suggested it would be “dead on arrival” in the House of Representatives.

In a stunning turn of events, Biden indicated last week that he would support that measure, even closing the southern border “right now” if Congress were to pass the legislation.

Under the border plan still under negotiation, the Department of Homeland Security would be given new emergency authority to close the border if the daily average of illegal border crossings reaches 4,000 in a week. Certain migrants would be allowed to stay if it turns out they are fleeing torture or persecution in their country.

Lawmakers are also looking at how asylum cases are processed. Currently, it takes several years and many migrants are released into the US to await their hearings.

The goal is to shorten the resolution time to six months, which would include raising the standards for determining asylum.

Republicans argue that the long wait and generous standards are a reason why many migrants are motivated to come to the US. Critics also say the system is being abused.

Biden’s support for the border compromise contrasts with the president’s previous stance — in which he emphasized “humanitarian” measures — and comes as the 2024 campaign comes into focus. With Trump’s recent victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, he is increasingly looking like the Republican presidential candidate.

Migrants attempt to climb barbed wire to cross Texas border despite security measures in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

Senators negotiate a compromise on border legislation

During the 2020 campaign, Biden was critical of then-President Trump’s threat to close the border.

Biden’s new position reflects growing public concern that border crossings have gotten out of control, but also threatens to alienate progressives who already believe Biden has moved too far to the right on border policy.

Trump, meanwhile, has rejected the Senate bill as he tries to keep the border issue alive during his campaign, where it has proven to be a winning issue for Republicans.

“We need a strong, powerful and essentially ‘PERFECT’ border,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account late Thursday.

The former president said that unless Republicans achieve these goals, “we’re better off not making a deal.”

The “unsustainable invasion” at the southern border is considered a “death wish” for the United States, he added.

Johnson and other conservatives echoed Trump’s position, saying the compromise being negotiated does not go far enough.

Republicans in the House of Representatives are tackling the border in their own way. On Tuesday, they are preparing for a key vote on the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over what they call his “deliberate and systematic” refusal to enforce immigration laws.

Speaker Mike Johnson suggested the compromise border bill would be “dead on arrival” in the House of Representatives

Donald Trump denounced efforts in the Senate to craft a border bill

The White House is trying to blame Republicans in Congress.

“Congress must take action,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. ‘They have to act. Speaker Johnson and House Republicans must provide the administration with the policy changes and funding it needs.”

Senator James Lankford, the top Republican negotiator, said on Fox News on Sunday that after months of pushing for border security and advocating for a deal related to aid to Ukraine, “when we finally get to the end” , the Republicans seem to be saying ; “Oh, just kidding, I don’t really want a change in the law because of the presidential election year.”

Trump in particular does not want to give Biden a victory on this issue and brings it up for discussion as something he can use during his campaign.

Border crossings reached another record in December.

Border Patrol counted 249,785 apprehensions at the Mexican border in December, up 31% from 191,112 in November and up 13% from 222,018 in December 2022, the previous record high.