(Fox News) President Biden may have quietly admitted Wednesday evening what he and the White House have refused to say publicly about the worsening situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Biden said Tuesday the border situation will be “chaotic for a while” as his administration works to restore order — but speaking with reporters the next day on the tarmac at the Westchester County Airport, Biden admitted there has been “chaos at the border for a number of years.”
“Well, we’ve had chaos at the border for a number of years,” the president said before boarding Air Force One in White Plains, New York. “We have to fully fund the border security effort.”
He added, “Look, the purpose of what we’re doing now is making legal immigration more streamlined, illegal immigration shorter term and moved — and moving in a direction that people know that there’s a legal way to get here and not legal way. That is what’s underway now.”
President Biden speaks to reporters at Westchester County Airport on May 10, 2023 in White Plains, New York. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden was sworn in as President in January 2021. At the time, Democrats controlled Congress with a majority in the House of Representatives and a tie-breaking control of the U.S. Senate.
In the years since, the Biden administration has refused to use funding already allocated to reinforce the border, sued Arizona to remove shipping containers that helped fill gaps in the U.S. Border Patrol Yuma Sector, ceased former President Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, and ultimately failed to extend Title 42. The “Remain in Mexico” policy has since been reinstated.
On Wednesday evening, the president answered several questions by the group about the more than 10,000 migrants that are being detained at the border daily, the upcoming expiration of Title 42 — which is expected to cause additional migrants to seek entry into the U.S.
Migrants attempting to cross in to the U.S. from Mexico are detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the border Aug. 20, 2022 in San Luis, Arizona. (Nick Ut/Getty Images)
He was also asked about Mexico’s role in the ongoing crisis and whether he would consider sending additional U.S. troops to the border.
“I spent an hour with the President of Mexico yesterday. He’s been very cooperative,” Biden said.
Biden also said he and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador were “in agreement” and that he was “also supportive of making sure we have way-stops in Colombia and other countries where people can make their case [for asylum].”
Border Patrol agents encounter over 1,000 migrants in El Paso, Texas, March 29, 2023. (Customs and Border Protection)
When asked if Biden would consider sending additional troops to the border, he simply answered, “Yes.”
The president did not specify how many more he would consider sending.
“The troops are there to free up the Border Patrol people to be able to do their job,” Biden remarked.
Biden also seemed to blame a divided Congress for not adequately addressing border security.
“Look, I asked the Congress for a lot more money for the Border Patrol. They didn’t do it. They’ve made it harder,” the president said.
He added, “What we want to do at the border is have it work and function in the way it’s designed to work. And that requires us having more immigration officers, more asylum judges, a whole range of things [like] more personnel. And I’m trying to do as much of that as I can.”
