Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, on Wednesday rejected the "absurd" allegations that President Biden was presented with a watered-down version of the chaos at the border during his visit to El Paso, Texas as critics accuse local Democrats of conspiring to paint a watered-down picture of the migrant crisis to benefit the White House.
"I want to debunk that," Escobar told Fox News host John Roberts in an interview on "America Reports." "First and foremost, no one is more interested in a secure dignified border than those of us who actually live there. So this trip was important to me, it was important to my community, the federal workforce, NGOs, local governments, etc. We would never conspire to paint a different picture. It’s not in our best interest."
BORDER PATROL UNION RIPS BIDEN'S BORDER VISIT, SAYS EL PASO CLEANED UP ‘JUST IN TIME’
Border Patrol and locals complained that Biden's first-ever trip to the U.S.-Mexico border Sunday did not accurately portray the extent of the crisis, pointing to reports that migrant encampments were cleaned up, and local authorities were instructed to ramp up detentions in preparation for the president's visit.
Escobar, who worked closely with the White House to plan the president's trip, said that Biden had "every intention" to meet with migrants, but that the traffic at the El Paso processing facility he visited was uniquely slow at the time of his arrival.
"As anyone who has worked on the border for any time knows, flows change. So just the week before when the president’s advanced team was there, the processing facility had a lot of people. The flows changed, they moved from El Paso to Eagle Pass," she said. "The president had every intention – and as someone who provided input – to meet migrants."
"Number two: The idea that we would sanitize the community to prevent the president from seeing what we have been trying to address at the local level is absurd," Escobar continued.
A local homeless shelter director told Fox News that Biden didn't witness the "humanitarian shortcomings" migrants face in El Paso because state and local officials cleared encampments. Host John Roberts asked Escobar to explain a side-by-side image depicting a busy migrant encampment around Sacred Heart Church that was photographed completely empty a day later.
Escobar said the encampment was cleared up because Border Patrol implemented enforcement activities in recent weeks, before "any of us knew" about the president's visit. At the same time, NGOs were ramping up efforts to relocate migrants from off the street into shelters," she told Roberts.
"The night before the president’s visit I had an update from one of the NGO who said they had been extremely successful in the days leading up," she recalled.
President of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) Brandon Judd slammed the president's decision to visit the ports of entry, avoiding the real chaos that occurs "between the port of entry," where cartels "control stretches of our border."
"The president was at the border with border patrol but also one of the things we have been worried about has been fentanyl," Escobar fired back. "98% comes in through the ports of entry, so, of course, he’s going to go to the ports, talk about the need for better technology, more personnel."
"I will tell you this, John. No matter what the president did his critics would be screaming from their rooftops," she later added.
"I would love to see those same critics asking every Republican member of every co-dell that has gone to the border if they have met with migrants and I bet the answer is no."
In December, Escobar publicly urged Biden to lean into the mounting problems at the border and called on him to show up and see the crisis for himself.
"I share your feeling of frustration and the need for more urgency and I want to see that, starting with the White House," she said at the time, calling for "more direct engagement" from the president.
