President Joe Biden said that he is forgoing a visit to the southern border during his trip to Arizona Tuesday because "there are more important things going on."
Biden made the remark to reporters while departing the White House for Arizona, where Biden is set to visit a new computer chip plant for Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer TSMC. "They're going to invest billions of dollars in a new enterprise," Biden said about the state, arguing the factory opening was more important than a border visit.
The president's border dismissal comes as Customs and Border Protection reported a record high of 230,000 border encounters in October. Biden is reportedly mulling bringing back Trump-era immigration rules that would make it more difficult to seek asylum.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), whose state has been at the center of the nation's migrant crisis, said "Joe Biden doesn’t give a damn" about the border.
"Kids are being raped by cartel members. Tons of drugs are flooding across the border that will kill Americans. Millions of illegal aliens are flooding across the border," the lawmaker tweeted Tuesday.