Joe Biden and Donald Trump will cross the border with Mexico in the state of Texas the day after Thursday, as immigration becomes a burning, central issue in the campaign of the two politicians who are considered to be heading for a rematch in the November 5 presidential election in the United States.

The Democratic president, who is pushing Republican lawmakers to pass a bill that includes measures to strengthen border security, will travel to Brownsville to meet with officials and law enforcement officials, the White House said yesterday.

“It will refer to the urgent need to adopt” a text on the issue of immigration drawn up by senators from both parties and which provides “a set of reforms (…) that are the strictest and fairest to make the border secure in decades” , the White House spokeswoman told the press yesterday.

Mr. Biden would “reiterate his call to Republicans in Congress to stop playing political games and authorize the necessary funds” for more border controls, he added.

In New York yesterday, the US president refused to answer when asked by the press if he would meet with immigrants during his visit to the border.

Asked about his visit to Texas, the Democrat replied, “I was planning to go on Thursday, I didn’t know my good friend was going there” that same day, a sarcastic reference to Donald Trump.

His Republican predecessor will be in Eagle Pass, about 500 kilometers from Brownsville.

The former president has adopted venomous rhetoric about immigrants and the government and refuses to make any concessions to the latter.

“Ruthless gangs and gang members are spreading into our country from South America and around the world (…) gathering in our beautiful USA by the tens of thousands,” the Republican tweeted via social networking sites. He added: “Biden will never be able to handle the situation.”

A spokesman for Mr. Trump argued that the fact that “Biden is running after us at the border on the same day as us shows how big a problem he is in.”

The American right accuses Joe Biden personally and his administration of worsening immigration flows with their policies. The White House, for its part, accuses Republicans of deliberately sabotaging any attempt at a compromise on the issue

In recent weeks, the state of Texas has engaged in bravado with the Biden administration, as its Republican governor Greg Abbott, a big supporter of Donald Trump, accuses it of allowing an “invasion”.

Although border control is the responsibility of the federal state, state authorities have multiplied measures to limit immigration. Several cases are pending on the issue.