STORY: US President Joe Biden has paid a visit to the border with Mexico for the first time since taking office two years ago. Accompanied by border police officers, he took a close look at part of the wall near El Paso in the US state of Texas. Texas Gov. Republican Greg Abbott accused Biden of not taking immigration laws seriously enough and not doing enough to protect the border. Abbott is being discussed as a possible Republican presidential candidate in the 2024 election. Biden has been repeatedly criticized by Republicans for his immigration policy. At the end of December he extended a regulation for the quick deportation of illegal migrants. At the same time, he allowed regular entry into the United States for up to 30,000 immigrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela every month. US border guards picked up 2.2 million migrants at the border with Mexico in fiscal 2022 – more than ever before. However, this number also includes multiple border crossings.