Biden challenges Trump to ‘join me’ as he urges Congress to pass border bill in rival Texas campaign stops

A pair of towns along the US-Mexico border became stages for two presidential candidates on Thursday as President Joe Biden slammed his predecessor and opponent for getting in the way of needed immigration reform and border security legislation.

In Brownsville, Texas — a border town along the Rio Grande, river — Mr Biden received a briefing from top Customs and Border Patrol personnel, including CBP Deputy Commissioner Peter Flores, Border Patrol chief Jason Owens, and Gloria Chavez, a top CBP officer who serves as the Brownsville sector chief.

Mr Biden was told by the head of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division that DHS requires “more personnel” and “more resources,” including additional detention beds, technology for monitoring asylum seekers while they await hearings, as well as more cooperation from cities and states by having them alert ICE when they arrest people who aren’t legally present in the US.

Mr Biden was also told about non-intrusive inspection technology that could be purchased with the held-up supplemental legislation to prevent illicit fentanyl from being trafficked into the US.

He replied: “We can’t afford not to do this”.

In remarks to DHS personnel, Mr Biden praised their border enforcement efforts, telling them: “No one works harder for a safe and secure border than all of you”.

The president said it was “long past time” for action on the border security deal held up by Republicans, which was painstakingly negotiated by a group of bipartisan senators including Oklahoma Republican James Lankford, Arizona independent Kyrsten Sinema, and Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy.

He described it as “the toughest set of border reforms we’ve ever seen in this