GOP rebuttals to Biden's State of the Union focus on the border and immigration

The U.S.-Mexico border was a top talking point in the rebuttal speeches given by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Rep. Mónica De La Cruz, R-Texas, following President Biden's State of the Union address Thursday night.

Britt reiterated the GOP argument that Biden created a "border crisis" and echoed her colleagues in using the death of Georgia student Laken Riley as an example of a crime committed by someone who has crossed the border. An undocumented Venezuelan immigrant has been arrested for the crime.

"That could've been my daughter. It could've been yours," Britt said. "Tonight, President Biden finally said her name. But he refused to take responsibility for his own actions."

The sentiment was also shared in the Spanish-language rebuttal given by De La Cruz. Read her rebuttal — in both English and Spanish.

"You don't have to look any further than the border to see the disaster that Biden has caused," De La Cruz said, also using Riley's death in her speech. "At the beginning of his term, he stopped enforcing our laws."

Immigration has bubbled as a top political issue over the past several months, with both Biden and former President Donald Trump visiting the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, the congressional Republican-led effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over what they say was the Biden administration's system to parole migrants and a killed attempt at a border deal. Coming into the State of the Union address, Biden was greeted by GOP member Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., who handed him a "Laken Riley" pin and others who wore red "Stop the Biden Border Crisis" buttons.

But both rebuttal speeches also focused on broader political themes such as threats to U.S. national security from China,