US: President Biden to visit Mexico border

US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday his "intention" to visit the US-Mexico border, as criticism for the Democrat president's handling of the immigration crisis grows.

With an influx of migrants trying to cross the border every day, Biden has had to stave off detractors and said Wednesday that "we're working out the details" of the trip.

Biden, who is currently in Kentucky, said he would address the border issue in a speech scheduled for Thursday.

The visit is likely to take place next week, when he is due in Mexico. The White House has yet to clarify where on the border, which spans over 1900 miles (3,057 kilometers), the president would go. 

Why is the timing of the visit significant?

This would be the president's first visit to the border since taking office two years ago. It comes as conservative media hone their reporting on the growing border crisis, with guards overwhelmed daily by streams of would-be migrants from Latin America.

Many critics have called on him to make the visit.

Biden's administration has done little to address the increasingly complicated migration issue. Former President Donald Trump concentrated much of his time on limiting migration.

One such decision was invoking a 1944 public health law known as Title 42, under the pretext of containing the pandemic.

However, migration advocates say it has been used to send back migrants.

A controversial US Supreme Court decision preserved the law late last year, despite lax COVID-19 measures. 

rmt/jsi (AFP, AP)