Dave McCormick targeted Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) on X on illegal immigration, saying the senior senator was “nowhere to be found.”

Following President Biden’s State of the Union last Thursday, in which the President appeared to call Laken Riley, Georgia college student murdered by an illegal immigrant, “Lincoln”, Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick took to X criticizing his general election rival for what McCormick calls an 18-year history “support[ing] sanctuary cities.”

A week before Biden’s State of the Union address, incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey linked the border crisis, in which more than 6 million “migrant encounters” have occurred on the southern border since Biden took office, to the surge in fentanyl deaths in the United States in a letter to President Biden. Casey led more than a dozen of his Democratic colleagues on the letter, which did not mention the historic number of border crossings.

McCormick later directed comments toward Casey, saying the senior senator from the Keystone State “is nowhere to be found” on the border crisis.

Hours before the State of the Union, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed the “Laken Riley Act”, which would require President Biden to reinstate the “remain in Mexico” policy, among other provisions. The “remain in Mexico” policy was implemented by former President Trump. It requires those attempting to enter the United States to stay on the Mexican side of the southern border while applying for legal status.

All Pennsylvania Republicans voted for the measure, while all but three Democrats from the state voted nay. Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, whose district encompasses all of Delaware County and parts of Chester and Montgomery counties, told the New York Times the bill would not have prevented the death of Laken Riley.

Before President Biden’s SOTU, illegal immigration was already a hot button item in the Pennsylvania Senate race: When the City Council of Lancaster passed a measure ending the city’s cooperation with federal immigration officials, McCormick sharply criticized the council’s move, saying it was “extremely reckless.” Since then, Sen. Casey was contacted by Fox News on the topic of sanctuary cities. Casey’s office told the outlet he does not support sanctuary cities, despite Casey voting against moving forward on a bill that would have defunded sanctuary cities.