In a festive White House gathering to usher in the holiday season, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed Mariah Carey and her 12-year-old twins, Moroccan and Monroe, on Wednesday, December 21, 2023, according to a report by the Daily Mail.
The joyous occasion was shared by Carey on her Instagram account, featuring images of the visit and her twins marveling at the elaborate festive decorations. The singer expressed her delight, stating, ‘Last week I had the pleasure of meeting President Biden & Vice President Harris at the White House to ring in the holiday season! While there, we got to see all the festive decor and spread some cheer!’
Carey was photographed alongside President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, capturing moments of holiday cheer amid the ornate decorations adorning the White House.
However, this lighthearted celebration unfolded against the grim backdrop of an escalating migrant crisis along the southern border.
As thousands of migrants continued to pour across the southern border, mayors of major cities, including New York and Chicago, sought federal assistance in dealing with the crisis. Despite urgent pleas from local leaders, Washington’s response appeared insufficient to address the growing challenges.
While Carey engaged in festive conversations with Vice President Harris, the Biden administration faced formidable obstacles as daily records of migrant ‘encounters’ by Border Patrol agents reached unprecedented levels, with 12,000 reported in a single day.
The crisis extended to the US-Mexico border in Arizona, where hundreds of immigrants were observed walking across, overwhelming the limited resources available for processing. Fox News and NewsNation Border Correspondent Ali Bradley captured images of new arrivals, including migrants from Mexico, Latin America, Afghanistan, and India.
The situation raised legal questions about border crossings outside designated points of entry, with asylum claims becoming a common avenue for those seeking refuge in the US.
As chaos unfolded at the border, southern states grappled with the influx by loading tens of thousands of migrants onto buses bound for sanctuary cities in northern states like Chicago and New York.
The numbers were staggering, with 130,000 attempted border crossings in the first 17 days of November and an additional 167,000 in December.
Eagle Pass, Texas, emerged as a hotspot, witnessing 14,000 migrants rushing the crossing near a town with a population of just 30,000 Texans.
Law enforcement officials expressed concerns about drug cartels exploiting the situation to smuggle both people and drugs across the border. Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland, a retired border agent and the top law enforcement official in neighboring Terrell County, commented on the dire situation, stating, ‘It’s an absolute collapse of the border.’
The redirection of Border Patrol agents and the strain on local law enforcement further heightened fears of increased criminal activity.
Publicly available Department of Homeland Security figures revealed that border agents dealt with 188,778 crossings in October, marking a 14 percent decrease from September. However, DHS declined to comment on these figures, leaving the public questioning the effectiveness of current border control measures.
