EL PASO – Governor Greg Abbott hand-delivered a letter to President Joe Biden after he arrived in El Paso Sunday afternoon, calling on him to take action to secure the border.
The governor handed the letter to the president after greeting him on the tarmac at the El Paso International Airport. This visit is the president’s first trip to the border since being sworn into office almost two years ago.
In the letter, Abbott detailed a list of actions that could be immediately taken to secure the border and help restore the immigration crisis, his office said in a news release. You can read the governor’s letter here.
After delivering the letter to the president, Abbott was asked to share details on the exchange. He said the president was cordial to him.
“He said he wanted to work with us on it… He was cordial,” Abbott said.
The governor was then asked about his stance on Biden’s recent announcement of a new parole process for migrants.
The new parole process, announced Sunday, includes turning away Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Cubans, and Haitians who illegally cross the border from Mexico.
Instead, the Department of Homeland Security will accept 30,000 people from those four countries a month and offer them an opportunity to work legally.
“Those changes will probably do nothing more than entice more illegal immigration. You have to implement the policies in my letter to stop illegal immigration and to begin the process he wants to work on,” Abbott said.