Biden admin blames Trump for 'chaos' at southern border after video shows migrants overrunning soldiers

White House cites former president's opposition to bipartisan border security agreement as root cause of El Paso incident

Biden admin blames Trump for 'chaos' at southern border after video shows migrants overrunning soldiers
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
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The Biden administration has responded to a viral video showing a large group of illegal immigrants charging Texas National Guard troops at the U.S. southern border on Thursday, saying that former President Donald Trump is to blame for the ensuing "chaos."
On Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters to ask Texas Gov. Abbott about the issue instead of asking the White House. 

The video, captured by The New York Post, depicts dozens of migrants, appearing to be all men, overrunning National Guard troops stationed in El Paso, Texas. The group broke through razor wire and began shoving the soldiers as they attempted to illegally enter the U.S. The Post reported that around 600 migrants were involved in the incident.

In a statement to the Daily Caller on Friday, a White House spokesman said, "We are grateful for Border Patrol's quick work to get the situation under control and apprehend the migrants." The spokesman then pointed to Trump's opposition to a bipartisan border security agreement as the root cause of the incident.

"When the former President told Congressional Republicans to block the bipartisan border security agreement – he said to blame him for it. Well he got his wish, and the result was chaos after Governor Abbott's Operational Lone Star and razor wire were overrun yesterday," the statement continued. "While we cannot comment on individual cases, anyone who does not have a legal basis to remain in the United States is promptly removed."

Last month, House Republicans rejected a bill pushed by President Joe Biden and approved by the Senate that aimed to address certain border security issues. The rejection came after Trump said "Only a fool, or a Radical Left Democrat" would vote for the bill.

In a joint statement, House Republican leaders criticized the Senate's border bill, saying it "fails in every policy area needed to secure our border and would actually incentivize more illegal immigration."

Texas is currently engaged in a legal battle with the Biden administration over the state's new immigration law, which allows state law enforcement to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally. The Biden administration argues that the law interferes with federal immigration law and violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, while proponents say Texas has a constitutional right and duty to protect itself from what it views as an invasion at the southern border.

Since Biden took office, Border Patrol has reported approximately 9 million encounters nationwide, with 1.7 million estimated "gotaways." In comparison, there were 415,000 total reported "gotaways" during the entire Trump administration from 2018 to 2020.

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