President Joe Biden’s mixed messaging on immigration, an issue where he had intended to distinguish himself sharply from his predecessor, has led to the White House being besieged on all sides.

Conservatives have pointed to the surge at the border and expenditure of taxpayer money to house and transport large numbers of unaccompanied minors emboldened to enter the country by Biden’s election. Liberals are outraged that the president has yet to raise the refugee cap. Biden said the record low number of 15,000 set by former President Donald Trump “remains justified,” before backing down within hours and saying that some unspecified increase would take place by May 15. All this is happening amid a pandemic in which policymakers have sought to regulate migration to slow the spread.