Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) called it "puzzling" and "frustrating" Monday that President Obama would not visit the Mexican-American border and take a stronger leadership stance on the humanitarian crisis happening there.
Obama will attend three fundraisers in Texas next week, but the White House announced he will not visit the border and Obama is not worried about the optics of raising money given the situation there.
"I think the problem speaks for itself when the president, who would prefer to hang out with campaign donors and other political supporters, would decide not to have any interaction with those that are directly affected by his failed policies, in this case the failed immigration policies that led to a full-blown humanitarian crisis," Cornyn said on the Senate floor.
Cornyn added Obama bore responsibility for policies encouraging illegal immigration without consequences.
"It is disheartening, it's disappointing, and it's extremely dangerous," Cornyn said. "This week during his trip to Texas, it would take the the president less than an hour on Air Force One to visit the border and too see what I and so many of my colleagues have seen firsthand: a very sad situation that could have been prevented but now that it's happened, it needs to be addressed in a bipartisan way."
Full remarks:
JOHN CORNYN: I think the problem speaks for itself when the president, who would prefer to hang out with campaign donors and other political supporters, would decide not to have any interaction with those that are directly affected by his failed policies, in this case the failed immigration policies that led to a full-blown humanitarian crisis. So instead of taking the easy way out, I wish the president would step up and lead, and he would learn perhaps something he did not already know or that he thinks he knows and which is absolutely wrong. It's puzzling and it's frustrating that the President of the United States chooses the path he apparently is going to take rather than one that will help him solve problems. We know the president last week stood in the Rose Garden in front of the American people and at the same time he asked for money to help address this problem, and it is reportedly in the order of $2 billion, in the very next breath, he announced that he's looking at expanding the very same policies that have helped create this crisis, create the impression that there will be no consequences for coming to the country in violation of our laws. It is disheartening, it's disappointing, and it's extremely dangerous. This week during his trip to Texas, it would take the the president less than an hour on Air Force One to visit the border and too see what I and so many of my colleagues have seen firsthand: a very sad situation that could have been prevented but now that it's happened, it needs to be addressed in a bipartisan way.