Biden visits border for first time as critics condemn his migrant crackdown

President makes brief stop in El Paso, ground zero for the consequences of US system that he acknowledges is deeply broken

President Joe Biden on Sunday landed in Texas to visit the US-Mexico border for the first time in his nearly two years as commander-in-chief, even as lawmakers and immigrant rights advocates have widely condemned his administration’s latest hardline response to the deepening humanitarian emergency there.

Biden – who is due in Mexico City this week for an international summit – began a brief pit stop in El Paso, a recent ground zero for the consequences of a US immigration system that he has readily acknowledged is deeply broken.