As President Joe Biden gives his “State of the Union” address on Thursday, he will be met with House Republicans wearing pins calling for action on the border crisis.
The president will give the annual address before Congress at 9:00 p.m. ET, where he is expected to tout his economic record, defend his party’s fight to promote abortion rights across the country, and contrast himself with former President Donald Trump. Many who will tune into the president’s speech are waiting to see how Biden addresses illegal immigration, the issue at the top of voters’ minds heading into the 2024 election.
To continue to draw attention to the border crisis during the 2024 “SOTU,” House Republicans will unite and wear pins with the message “Stop The Biden Border Crisis.”
“This evening, during Joe Biden’s final State of the Union address, House Republicans will highlight the number one crisis impacting Americans daily: Joe Biden’s open borders,” House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said in a statement provided to The Daily Wire. “Since his first day in office, Biden has implemented a radical Far Left open borders agenda, which has turned every community into a border community, jeopardized our national security, and devastated countless American families.”
The border crisis remains under the spotlight after the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley in late February. Riley, 22, was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, who stands accused of attacking Riley while she was on a run, “disfiguring her skull,” and dragging her body to a secluded area.
The man accused of killing Riley, Jose Ibarra, was held by Border Patrol on September 8, 2022, after illegally entering the United States near El Paso, Texas, but was released for further processing, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Ibarra was then arrested by New York police in August 2023 and charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17, according to ICE.
Riley’s murder sparked outrage from Republicans who continued their demands for the Biden administration to do more to secure the border. The president visited the southern border last week and has blamed the Republican Party for blocking legislation that touched on the border, along with including increased foreign aid, but according to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) fell short of the GOP’s requests for border security.
“For the past three years, Biden has ignored the crisis that he created at our borders,” Stefanik added. “Now, in a desperate attempt to stabilize his plummeting poll numbers, Biden suddenly wants to talk about his border crisis. But the American people are smart. They know Biden’s words are meaningless and that we are in the midst of this historic crisis because of his actions. Tonight, every time Biden looks away from his teleprompter, House Republicans will remind him of the crisis he created.”
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Since Biden took office in January 2021, Border Patrol agents have recorded more than 7.2 million encounters with illegal immigrants. In just the first four months of fiscal year 2024, which accounts for October through January, agents recorded nearly one million migrant encounters along the U.S. southern border, a number that does not account for illegal immigrants who crossed the border without being detected.