The White House said President Joe Biden agrees with former President Barack Obama that open-border migration is “unsustainable,” even as thousands of migrants cross the southern United States border, overwhelming federal authorities.
“We don’t have open borders, so yes, he agrees,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday. Since Biden took office in January, the number of people attempting to reach the country illegally has ticked sharply upward.
Border crossings reached a 21-year high in June after surging for several months. In August, officials apprehended more than 208,000 people. In Del Rio, Texas, some 30,000 migrants streamed across the border, reaching up to 15,000 people at one time.
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During an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America on Tuesday, Obama said that the recent crush of migrants arriving in Del Rio “is a painful reminder that we don’t have this right yet and we’ve got more work to do.”
“As big-hearted as he is, nobody understands that better than Joe Biden,” Obama said. “And the question is now: Are we gonna get serious about dealing with this problem in a systemic way, as opposed to these one-offs where we’re constantly reacting to emergencies? And I think that that’s something that every American should want to put an end to.”
The encampment under the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas was cleared on Friday, with migrants continuing to be expelled under the Title 42 public health rule.
According to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, 8,000 returned across the U.S.-Mexico border voluntarily, while about 12,400 people will have their cases heard by an immigration judge and remain in the United States as they seek asylum. The Biden administration has also moved to expel several thousand people rapidly back to their home countries.
“Immigration is tough. It always has been because, on the one hand, I think we are naturally a people that wants to help others,” Obama said. “And we see tragedy and hardship and families that are desperately trying to get here so that their kids are safe, and they’re in some cases fleeing violence or catastrophe.”
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He added: “At the same time, we’re a nation-state. We have borders. The idea that we can just have open borders is something that … as a practical matter, is unsustainable.”
