Awkward moment Biden campaign adviser is confronted by poll showing 62% FAVOR mass deportations – after insisting pathways to citizenship is the ‘right thing to do’
A senior adviser to Joe Biden appeared shocked and scoffed at the idea that Biden’s immigration policies are unpopular after he was shown a poll in favor of mass deportations.
On Tuesday, Biden announced a sweeping new policy that would remove the threat of deportation for hundreds of thousands of people married to U.S. citizens.
However, the CBS News/YouGov poll, conducted June 5-7, found that 62 percent of registered voters supported a government program to deport all illegal immigrants.
Senior adviser Tom Perez, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, seemed unfazed by a host who read those numbers to him while discussing Biden’s border policies on Wednesday.
“I would like to sit down with your polling team and show them how they got this wrong,” he said, citing other polls that claimed these were the parameters of the new Biden plan.
Tom Perez, a senior adviser to Joe Biden, looked shocked and derisive at the idea that Biden’s immigration policies are unpopular after he was shown a poll in favor of mass deportations
He claimed that Biden’s action would be both morally and legally correct and even popular.
“It’s the right thing to do, it’s the legal thing to do and it’s the smart thing to do,” he said.
“We keep families together, communities together and we have a labor shortage,” Perez added.
The poll also found that a majority of voters supported Biden’s recent executive action on the southern border.
Biden has deported and repatriated more people in the past year than in any year since 2010.
Donald Trump has proposed using the National Guard to deport illegal immigrants, planning what he calls “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”
In contrast, Biden’s recent executive actions at the southern border aim to more effectively manage asylum claims and control border crossings more effectively.
The Biden administration has introduced measures to suspend migrant entry across the southern border once the number of average border contacts in a day reaches 2,500 for seven days in a row.
On Tuesday, Biden announced a sweeping new policy that would remove the threat of deportation for hundreds of thousands of people married to U.S. citizens.
Perez claimed that Biden’s action would be both morally and legally correct and even popular
The idea is to make it easier to remove newly arrived migrants if they have no legal basis to stay in the US
The White House’s decision earlier this month to implement a restrictive proposal that effectively halted asylum processing at the US-Mexico border angered many of Biden’s political allies.
In the policy announced this week, Biden plans to do just that admits about 490,000 spouses of US citizens a chance to apply for a “parole in place” program, which would protect them from deportations and offer them work permits if they have lived in the country for at least ten years.
Biden opened his presidency with promises to fight for widespread relief for the millions of immigrants living in the country without permanent legal status.
But now that the number of migrants has reached historic levels and he prepares for a re-election contest against Donald Trump, Biden was introduced earlier this month a border restriction that critics say is comparable to that of its predecessor.
The authority invoked by Biden not only provides protection against deportation and work permits, but also removes a legal barrier that allows eligible immigrants to apply for permanent residency and ultimately U.S. citizenship.
It is a power already used for other categories of immigrants, such as members of the U.S. military or their family members who do not have legal status.
Biden was also expected to announce a policy to make recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program eligible for visas, instead of the temporary work permit they currently receive, two of the people briefed said.
President Joe Biden has announced a policy that will protect hundreds of thousands of spouses of American citizens from deportation
Colombian migrant David Laguada holds a sign reading “Help us, we are migrants” as he waits with his family for a CBP appointment to reach the United States next to the border wall during a heat wave in Mexicali, Mexico
Still, Biden’s use of this authority could face legal challenge, just as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program has faced.
The White House on Tuesday afternoon celebrated the 12th anniversary of that program, which was created by then-President Barack Obama to protect young immigrants without legal status, known as “Dreamers.”
Biden’s policy would only apply to long-time US residents, but Republicans were critical nonetheless. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called it a “huge magnet” for potential immigrants and said it would “draw even more people to the border.”