Biden skips border during Arizona visit, says there are 'more important things'

President Biden said on Tuesday that he will not be visiting the U.S.-Mexico border during his trip to Arizona because he has “more important things” to deal with, despite the ongoing crisis at the border. 

As Biden was boarding Marine One to depart the White House for Arizona, a reporter asked the President “Why go to a border state and not visit the border?” 

“Because there are more important things going on. They are going to invest billions of dollars in a new enterprise in the state,” Biden responded. 

The president is visiting Phoenix to promote the bipartisan CHIPS Act, which provides subsidies for technology companies to make computer chips domestically. 

Biden’s decision to skip the U.S.-Mexico border comes as a record-breaking number of undocumented migrants have been detained while crossing the border. 

During the fiscal year 2022, which ended on September 30, around 2.3 million migrants were apprehended, compared to the 1.7 million in the fiscal year 2021 and 500,000 in the fiscal year 2020. The figure for the fiscal year 2022 does not include the more than 600,000 “gotaways,” or migrants that crossed the border undetected by authorities. 

In October alone, Border Patrol agents encountered more than 230,000 undocumented migrants, a monthly record that broke the previous record set in September. 

Critics reacted to Biden’s comment to skip the border by criticizing his decision. 

"Visiting an ice cream shop: Very important," wrote the Border Patrol Union. "Visiting our border, where illegal immigration, deaths, escapes and fentanyl smuggling set new records non-stop with thousands dying as a result: Not important." 

 "The worst border crisis in U.S. history isn't important enough?" said the House Oversight Committee Republicans. "Committee Republicans have seen the border firsthand. It is a national security and humanitarian disaster."