■ Republicans on a visit to the Arizona-mexico border blamed Joe Biden for a surge in migrants.

PHOENIX — Republicans overseeing their party’s efforts to elect senators and governors trekked to the Arizona-mexico border Friday and laid blame for a surge in migrants at the feet of President Joe Biden.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Florida Sen. Rick Scott said Biden’s decision to relax some of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies has been a magnet for migrants looking to come to the United States.

Illegal border crossings are way up in recent months.

“The system is broken,” Ducey told reporters after flying over the border region near Douglas, Arizona. “Joe Biden has broken our border.”

Ducey demanded that Biden “state clearly that our borders are not open and our amnesty law has not changed,” asked for better COVID-19 testing of detained immigrants and called for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to visit the border. Mayorkas announced plans hours earlier to visit a migrant processing center in El Paso, Texas.

Biden, in an interview this week with ABC News, said his message to migrants was: “Don’t leave your town or city or community.” Aides repeatedly note that most people encountered by the Border Patrol are quickly expelled from the U.S. under pandemic-related powers that deny an opportunity to seek asylum.

While the number of migrants caught trying to cross the border from Mexico has been rising since April, the 100,441 encountered last month was the highest figure since March 2019. Mayorkas has said the number is tracking toward a 20-year high.