People in Austin weighed in on whether Gov. Greg Abbott or President Biden is handling the immigration crisis better, with most choosing the Texas Republican.
“I believe that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is handling immigration better,” Eleanor, a Dallas resident, told Fox News. “He’s supporting our state by eliminating drug trafficking.”
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Lauren, who was visiting Austin from Lincoln, Nebraska, agreed.
“I would say Abbott for sure,” she told Fox News. “He’s doing something about it, at least.”
Nearly 2.8 million migrants crossed the southern border illegally in fiscal 2022 — more than 1 million more than the previous year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Abbott has taken several actions to stem the migrant surge as well as an associated fentanyl crisis, such as signing an executive order designating Mexican drug cartels as “domestic terrorists” for producing and smuggling the drug into Texas.
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“I think Greg Abbott is handling the immigration crisis better,” Mary, also from Dallas, told Fox News. She praised the governor’s efforts to keep the situation under control.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday that Biden has made immigration issues a priority since day one after Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked if the administration considers the border secure. Jean-Pierre noted that White House had pushed immigration reform and said Republicans were staging “political stunts.”
“I’ve lived in a couple border states and I do not think that the border crisis is as big of a deal as a lot of people are saying it is,” Moe, of Austin, told Fox News. “I do believe that policies need to be updated and changed, especially with the way that our world is going nowadays.”
One man from Brownsville, a Texas border town, was unimpressed by both Abbott and Biden’s management of the illegal immigration surge.
“I’d say neither,” he told Fox News.
To watch more Americans choose between Biden or Abbott’s handling of the immigration crisis, click here.