Vice President Kamala Harris went to the U.S.-Mexico border soon after she and President Biden took office, even though she had characterized such visits as empty politics just weeks before.
President Barack Obama also toured the border during his time in the White House, though he came to see the trips as little more than photo ops.
As the immigration debate grows increasingly polarized, a trip along the 2,000-mile frontier has become a compulsory bit of political theater for leaders who want to show they care about immigration.
The imagery at the border — the wall, the Border Patrol officers, the crowded detention facilities — serves as a potent backdrop for drawing attention to the crisis or, increasingly, for seizing on the issue to attack political opponents.
On Thursday, both of those factors will be at play when President Biden and Mr. Trump make dueling trips to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Persons:
Kamala Harris, Biden, Barack Obama, Donald J, Trump
Organizations:
Border Patrol
Locations:
U.S, Mexico