We're closing up our live coverage today after a busy day at the US-Mexico border. Thank you for joining us.

There's plenty more for you to read on this issue, here:

• The debate over the border comes at a politically contentious time in US politics, and is rapidly becoming one of the main issues of the upcoming election in November
• The reasons for the uptick in migrant arrivals at the US-Mexico border are complex and subject to intense partisan debate here in the US
• President Biden and former President Trump have offered vastly different visions for how to approach the issue - although in some ways they are more similar than either candidate admits.

Today's live page was brought to you by Angelica Casas, Sarah Smith and Tom Bateman at the border, Mike Wendling in Chicago, Nada Tawfik in New York and Holly Honderich and Bernd Debusmann Jr in Washington DC. It was edited by Francesca Gillett and Emily McGarvey.

Image source, Reuters

We're going to end our live coverage shortly. A little while ago, we heard both from former President Donald Trump in Eagle Pass and current President Joe Biden in Brownsville.

Here's a reminder of their remarks, in which they offered starkly different versions of what is taking place at the border, and who's to blame.

• In Brownsville, Biden urged lawmakers to put aside "rank partisan politics" and told Republicans to "show a little spine" and support a stalled bipartisan immigration bill
• He also appeared to extend an olive branch to Donald Trump, telling him to "join" him on border issues and stop "playing politics"
• President Trump, for his part, told reporters that Biden is "destroying our country" and accused him of creating a wave of "migrant crime" in cities across the US
• Trump also vowed victory in the November election and claimed he would "take care" of the border issue
• Their comments have been followed by a flurry of statements from their campaigns criticising the opposing candidates

Mike Wendling
Reporting from Chicago

Earlier, outside Chicago’s largest migrant shelter, workers with a group called Southwest Collective passed out hot drinks.

They were scathing about Democratic Party leadership at all levels. Millions of dollars from local, state and national governments have gone to address the situation here. And yet, Maria Perez told me, asylum seekers still struggle to access necessities and medical care.

The death of a five-year-old boy of sepsis in this shelter in December could have been prevented, she said.

“He wasn’t seen by a doctor until it was too late,” she told me. “We’re handing out basic things like Pedialyte and calamine lotion” to treat dehydration and chicken pox, which has spread through the cramped space.

The people from Southwest Collective have heard grumbling from their neighbours about resources being provided for the migrants in an area where many established residents live in poverty.

Jamie Groth Searle, the group’s founder, said she understood those concerns. She preferred to view the situation as a “not a crisis, but an opportunity” – to rebuild the area, with the help of new arrivals who are eager to get to work.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US reporter

Image source, .

A key message from Trump when he was president, even if it never became a reality, was the building of a border wall and increased deportations.

The headlines created by the separation of children from their detained parents, decried by many as cruel, added to the impression that the US was closing its border.

Under President Biden, there was a change of tone and of policy. Deportations fell and "deterrent-focused" policies such as the rapid removal of migrants to Mexico and the building of a border wall ended.

Migrants were paroled into the US to await immigration court dates - a process which can often take years.

People trying to cross the border during this time told the BBC they thought that entering and staying in the US was going to be easier now. And human smugglers took advantage of a change in presidency to create a sense of urgency among migrants that they should hurry to the border.

"Part of it is that they think they can just come. I think that's just what they're being told," said Alex Cuic, an immigration lawyer and professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.

• You can read more here

Morgan Gisholt Minard
Reporting from Eagle Pass, TX

Outside his family’s Tex Mex restaurant half a mile from where Trump spoke earlier, local Democrat politician Eddie Morales told us he knew exactly who’s to blame: Congressional Republicans. That's after they voted to block the bipartisan border bill, which was thrashed out by senators on both sides and would reform border security.

"It’s sad that the Republicans didn’t take advantage for years. They’ve been crying and whining that the sky is falling on the border security issue, when we had the perfect opportunity [to act]” he told us. “They have failed not only their party and their constituency, but they failed our country.”

Is it too little, too late for Biden to turn the growing tide of border control resentment amongst Americans ahead of the election? Morales didn't think so, taking the party line of defending the Biden administration.

“Whether it's a little bit late or not, I still think that there's more than ample time from here until November for him to make his message strong for him to show his commitment to securing our border and to fix our broken immigration system."

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from New York

Here in New York, the influx of migrants arriving at the border used to feel like a far-away problem, but now daily reminders closer to home have made it an election issue.

The city has long welcomed newcomers, saying they contribute to the economy and cultural vibrancy of the city.

But with a record number of arrivals and stretched city services, there’s been an uptick in anti-immigrant sentiment.

In the last month, crimes involving migrants have made headlines and videos have gone viral, including one of young men fighting with police in Times Square.

The NYPD Commissioner remarked that “a wave of migrant crime” had washed over the city, "despite the “vast number of people coming to NY to build a better life".

The overall crime rate has stayed flat, but nevertheless Republican politicians and their allies are painting a picture of lawlessness.

New York’s Democratic mayor Eric Adams, a former cop, wants to appear tough on crime. He has called for changes to the sanctuary laws (which aim to protect immigrants from deportation) and wants migrants who commit serious crimes to be deported.

Mike Wendling
Reporting from Chicago

Image source, Getty Images

As we reported earlier, cities in the north have been receiving busloads of migrants being sent from Texas. More than 36,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago from Texas since 2022.

That might not seem like very many in a city of 2.7 million people but the new arrivals are often tired, fearful, and lack work permits.

They’ve received decidedly mixed receptions. This is a city that has long welcomed waves of new arrivals from all over the country and the world: south-east Asians after US troops left Vietnam, Bosnians during the Yugoslav wars, and the “Great Migration” of African-Americans from the south – to name just a few.

But the latest arrivals have been sudden and their timing somewhat unpredictable. The asylum seekers come from at least 20 different countries, according to city figures.

Many migrant shelters are located in commandeered abandoned and disused buildings, including a number in poorer neighbourhoods on the city’s south and west sides. Locals are asking where the money to support the asylum seekers was found, when they see poverty and homelessness in their neighbourhoods every day.

At the same time, a huge network of charities, churches and volunteers has kicked in to help. It will be months before all the migrants get permanent housing – and perhaps years before they obtain legal status in the US. This is a story that is just beginning.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US Reporter

Soon after Biden and Trump wrapped up their remarks at the border, the Trump campaign released a statement in which it claimed Biden "showed his true colours" by touting his efforts to dismantle the Trump administration's border security plans.

"This bill would rant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants," it said. "It even calls for inviting back illegal immigrants deported by the Trump administration to be eligible for amnesty."

It also accused Joe Biden of having "already acted on the border" by rescinding Trump-era policies.

Angelica Casas
US reporter, Laredo

The more I speak to migrants, the more it becomes evident: Their destination is not Laredo. That’s been the case in every other border region I’ve reported from recently, too.

Migrants and asylum seekers are coming through these border towns in their journey to reach family members and acquaintances in other Texas cities and beyond in other states.

Darwin Alexander Avila and his son, Oscar, crossed into the US less than a week ago after an arduous journey from Honduras. Their destination is Atlanta, Georgia, where a friend lives.

I ask if he’s seen the city at all since he got here. “Just the convenience store and petrol station down the street,” Avila says in Spanish.

His journey through Laredo is almost invisible to residents here.

“Most people who have endured a journey through Mexico don’t want to stay in a border community because we are so similar culturally to Mexico,” says Michael Smith, who runs a shelter in Laredo that services migrants.

He adds that migrants and asylum seekers who often leave their home countries because of economic pressures usually have their eyes on the “bright lights” of big cities, where family members are and where they know they can eventually find higher paying manual labour, if allowed to stay in the country.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from New York

President Biden isn’t just fielding criticism from his Republican rivals for office.

Democratic leaders have been piling on the pressure too, pleading for more federal assistance in addressing the migrant situation in their communities.

New York mayor Eric Adams accused President Biden of abandoning cities with a national issue, and while he’s met with White House officials, he hasn’t had any sit-downs with the president himself this year.

The city has already spent more than $2bn (£1.58bn) on caring for 178,600 asylum seekers. Approximately 65,000 are currently still in the city’s shelters.

Mayor Adams was one of dozens of officials from across the country pushing the federal government to give migrants expedited work authorisation and to permanently extend the duration of those work permits, from 180 days to more than 540 days.

Without that, individuals and families remain reliant on the city for their needs.

We've now heard both Trump and Biden speak at the Mexican border - as they carry out competing trips more than 300 miles apart.

Immigration is shaping up to be one of the hottest issues of this year's presidential election.

And - with the number of people crossing the border hitting a record high under Biden - it's proving to be a serious political problem for Biden and increasingly threatening his campaign for re-election.

Along with the economy, polling consistently ranks it as one of voters' dominant concerns. More than two thirds of people said they disapproved of Biden’s handling of the border situation, according to a poll in January by the BBC’s US partner CBS News., external

At the same time, immigration has always been Trump's signature issue, as our North America editor wrote earlier. His rants against illegal immigrants chime with many voters' views.

Speaking from Brownsville just now, Joe Biden barely mentioned his likely rival for the 2024 presidential race.

But Biden's campaign has come out a little harder, releasing a statement calling Donald Trump "weak on border security and weak on crime".

"The truth is, Donald Trump doesn’t want to secure the border. He prefers chaos and cruelty because he’s betting it helps him politically," says Biden's campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez. "It’s a bad bet - one that he will pay for at the ballot box this November.”

Joe Biden finishes his remarks with a direct appeal to Trump.

"Here's what I would say to Donald Trump," Biden says. "Instead of playing politics, join me, or I’ll join you in telling Congress to pass this border security bill."

He continues: "Why don't we just get together and get it done?"

It seems unlikely Biden's call will be answered. Trump spent most of his own remarks today railing against the president, blaming Biden for the rising migrant numbers at the border.

Image source, Getty Images

President Joe Biden has begun his public remarks from Brownsville, Texas, right on the heels of Donald Trump's speech, hundreds of miles west

"Folks, it’s real simple," Biden says. "It’s time to act."

Border agents "desperately need more resources", Biden says, more personnel, more capability, and immigration judges.

The president then touts the promises of a bipartisan immigration bill that passed in the Senate but has since stalled in the House - in part due to opposition from Trump.

"It’s a win for the American people... it's a win for Brownsville," Biden says. "It was derailed by rank partisan politics."

He chides Republican representatives to "show a little spine" and support the bill.

Image source, DC Pool

President Joe Biden is speaking to officials during his visit to the US-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas.

Stay with us as we bring you what he says.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US reporter

In his remarks just now, Trump claimed that "thousands" of migrants from countries including Yemen, Iran, Congo and others are illegally crossing the border.

Trump said that the migrants come from "many nations [that] are not very friendly to us".

While it is true that in the Biden administration there's been an uptick in citizens from several different distant countries - such as China - the majority of migrants caught crossing the US-Mexico border are still from Latin America.

Data from Customs and Border Patrol show that the majority of migrants detained at the border are Mexican.

In January, Mexicans were followed by citizens of Guatemala, Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras and Ecuador - all countries that have been a steady source of migrants for years.

Holly Honderich
US reporter

Image source, US Pool

On the other side of the split screen, Joe Biden is meeting with border officials in Brownsville.

Speaking to the assembled officers, the president says he is "going to get you more resources, come hell or high water".

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US reporter

In his remarks, Trump immediately takes aim at President Joe Biden, and blames him for rising migrant numbers at the border.

Much of his speech is so far focusing on what he has termed "Biden migrant crime" - a now-common feature of his campaign speeches.

"He's destroying our country," Trump says, claiming that thousands of migrants of fighting-age men are coming from countries including Yemen and Congo.

“They look like warriors to me," Trump adds. He is also giving specific instances of undocumented aliens committing crimes in the US.

While Trump now often refers to "Biden migrant crime", it's a claim that is not supported by national crime data. In fact, there is no evidence of "waves" of migrant-driven crime waves in US cities.

Trump is also highlighting some of the immigration policies of his administration, most notably "Remain in Mexico", in which asylum seekers were returned to Mexico while waiting for their hearings. And he is also advocating for his border wall - the signature fixture of his border policies.

Image source, US Pool

Donald Trump is now speaking at Shelby Park in the Texas city of Eagle Pass.

We'll bring you a summary of his speech shortly, and you can watch Trump's remarks live by clicking play at the top of this page.

Angelica Casas
Reporting from Laredo

Today I’ve been reporting from Laredo, where despite a dip in the number of migrant crossings, the shelters are still full with asylum seekers sent here from nearby border regions.

Ivan Garza says Laredo residents live in a multidimensional place: on any given day, most people here won’t see migrants, but everyone knows they’re here.

“The reality we live here is different from what others see, especially if they’re not living on the border like we are,” Garza says.

Sergio Mora, a local politician who I spoke to earlier this week, says the border crisis is affecting the community in ways most don’t realise. He listed out a few: reports of migrants found in stash houses nestled in neighbourhoods, car chases involving local law enforcement and smugglers, and migrants hiding on private land owned by ranchers outside the city.

“The problem is much bigger and complex" than what meets the eye, Mora says.