MISSION, Texas (ValleyCentral) — With President Joe Biden visiting El Paso on Sunday for the first time during his presidency, some local leaders believe Biden’s immigration plan followed by his visit is not enough to help Texas border cities.

Republican Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and other local officials gathered for a press conference and discussed what needed to be done to help border communities within the Rio Grande Valley.

Although Biden’s visit to El Paso was meant to shed light on the border crisis, Republicans argued this will not change the issues U.S. Border Patrol agents continue to face at the border.

“There’s been a lot of suicides with the Border Patrol, and it’s because they see the horrific things that are going on with this human trafficking that’s going on,” says Hidalgo County Republican Chairman Gary Groves. “Little girls are getting raped multiple times. We have severed heads on the highways that these Border Patrol people have to deal with.”

The Biden-Harris administration announced through their new immigration plan, they will expand efforts to secure the border, disrupt criminal smuggling networks and support border communities receiving migrants.

However, the administration recognizes this will not solve all the issues affecting the immigration system.

Republican Party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel stated, “230,000 people were apprehended illegally in November, that is a record high. So nothing with that is going to be solved. We need more Border Patrol agents, we need to fix these walls.” 

Local Republican leaders stated border cities in the Rio Grande Valley will continue to suffer unless Biden visits the RGV and witnesses the issues communities are facing.

Former State Representative Candidate Jimmy Garcia told the press, “Basically, what we want is for him to recognize that we have a problem here, because we do have one, and you can see it from the wall that isn’t complete. These communities are the ones that suffer when their house fences are broken into – they break into their businesses to hide from Border Patrol.” 

According to the Biden administration, the issue of immigration can only be fixed if Congress delivers the funding and immigration reform measures Biden proposed on his first day in office.