Joe and Jill Biden on Tuesday leave for a warm winter break in the sunny U.S. Virgin Islands while a monster snowstorm threatens much of the country and the Title 42 border policy could end at midnight.
The optics of the trip are being questioned, especially by conservatives – Biden will be on the beach as parts of the U.S. are bracing for another 12 inches of snow. Buffalo, which is buried under 50 inches of powder, is under federal emergency. The cyclone bomb storm has left at least 60 dead throughout the country.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has set the Trump-era border order Title 42 to end at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday night unless they issue another ruling, which they could sometime today.
The White House said it is a working trip.
‘No matter where the President is, he is working. The President will continue to closely monitor updates and will remain in close touch with staff over the New Year,’ said White House spokesperson Emilie Simons.
Buffalo, N.Y., received 50 inches of snow and is under a federal emergency order
The Supreme Court has set the Trump-era border order Title 42 to end at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday night unless they issue another ruling – above migrants waiting to be processed
A rush of migrants is expected to enter the U.S. once the order is lifted.
And the two challenges facing the country have collided.
Temperatures dropped to below freezing in all 48 contiguous US states over the weekend, including in Texas communities along the southern border where some newly arriving migrants have struggled to find shelter.
El Paso is facing a humanitarian crisis with many migrants sleeping on the city’s streets.
Presidents can and do work from anywhere but hanging out in the sunshine while much of the country is covered in snow and migrants are storming the border makes for questionable optics.
Temperatures around the country are expected to rise in the coming days but there will be fallout from the storm.
In Buffalo, the dead were found in cars, homes and snowbanks.
Biden offered the city federal assistance on Monday while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul toured Buffalo – her hometown – and called the blizzard ‘one for the ages.’
According to the governor, almost every fire truck in the city became stranded Saturday, she said. Many were without power.
Even in an area known for snowfall, County Executive Mark Poloncarz called the blizzard ‘the worst storm probably in our lifetime.’
The storm led to some 2,872 domestic and international U.S. flights were canceled Tuesday as of about 8 a.m. Eastern time, according to the tracking site FlightAware.
The Transportation Department is investigating the flight cancelations, including those by Southwest, which canceled the largest number of flights.
The Bidens won’t face travel difficulties, however, given they will be on Air Force One.
The Biden spent a quiet Christmas at the White House
The first couple spent a quiet Christmas at the White House, where they called a selection of U.S. service members around the world to thank them for their service.
The family had a private mass at the White House and a traditional Italian dinner.
They will ring in the New Year on St. Croix, returning to Washington D.C. on January 2nd.
The Bidens have a long family tradition to spend time on the sunny island in the Caribbean Sea, visiting there nearly every year since 2008.
Often, they greet the first sunrise of the new year at Point Udall, the eastern-most point under the American flag.
Biden’s brother James owns property on Water Island and Biden often spends a week there in January, when the cold weather settles in on the East Coast.
The Bidens are returning to the island after skipping trips there the past few years due to the COVID pandemic.
During his time as vice president, Biden vacationed on St. Croix in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
He will be the first president to visit the island since former President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Barack Obama visited it in 2007 when he was a presidential candidate.
The last sitting president to visit St. Croix was Harry Truman in February 1948.
