Jan. 4 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden intends to visit the U.S.-Mexico border when he travels to the country next week, he said Wednesday.
Biden made the announcement before boarding Air Force One in Kentucky. His decision came after nearly two years of Republicans criticizing his administration over the migrant crisis.
"I'm just going to see what's going on," Biden said.
The president is scheduled to attend the North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico City on Monday and Tuesday.
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency last month after the Border Patrol released more than 10,000 asylum seekers and other migrants in a single week.
Last month, the Supreme Court delivered a blow to the Biden administration's immigration policies when it said that Title 42 -- a Trump-era immigration policy that lets authorities quickly expel asylum-seekers at the border -- can remain in effect for now.
"To truly fix our broken immigration system though, we need Congress to act," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday, according to NBC News.
"We saw the president on his first day in office put forth a comprehensive immigration policy, and he did that to show how important this was, how much of a priority this was for him."
