Obama’s Texas Trip Sets Stage for Immigration Alamo

President Barack Obama travels to Texas Wednesday to raise money for Democratic campaigns in Dallas and Austin, speak about the economy, and meet with community leaders for a discussion about the wave of migrants, many of them children, flooding the U.S.-Mexico border in recent months.

Texas Governor Rick Perry will meet with the President during his visit, but declined an offer to welcome Obama to Texas by meeting him at the airport.

“I appreciate the offer to greet you at Austin-Bergstrom Airport,” Perry wrote in a letter seen by the Austin-American Statesman, “but a quick handshake on the tarmac will not allow for a thoughtful discussion regarding the humanitarian and national security crises enveloping the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. I would instead offer to meet with you at any time during your visit to Texas for a substantive meeting to discuss this critical issue. With the appropriate notice, I am willing to change my schedule to facilitate this request.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday that the President will meet with border officials on his visit to Texas but not tour the border itself, something Governor Perry has repeatedly invited him to do.