President Biden on said Wednesday it’s “my intention” to visit the southern border.
“We’re working on the details now,” he told reporters.
Biden, who is scheduled to visit Mexico City next week for a summit with North American leaders, made the statement following months of criticism from his political opponents that he hadn’t yet visited the border as President.
Republicans have said that having not visited to the border shows the Administration hasn’t been focused enough on the issue.
Rep.-elect Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who is battling to become House Speaker, told reporters that he had invited the Biden to visit the southern border with him during a meeting in the Oval Office.
“I explained to the President what I saw…the control of our border is lost right now,” he said.
President Biden also said he plans to give a speech on border security on Thursday.
There were a record 2.2 million arrests last year by U.S. Border Patrol of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
In the meantime, the Supreme Court is set to take up the issue of Title 42, the pandemic-era health policy that allows for migrant expulsions on the southern border.
The Justices will hear oral arguments in February from Republican-led states’ attorneys who have appealed a DC federal court’s ruling that would have ended the policy in December. The Justices are likely to rule on whether or not Title 42 is unlawful in June.
