A senior adviser to Joe Biden seemed bemused and scoffed at the idea that Biden’s immigration policies are unpopular after seeing a poll in favor of mass deportations.
On Tuesday, Biden announced a sweeping new policy that would eliminate 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 favored a government program to deport all illegal immigrants.
Senior adviser Tom Perez, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, seemed unfazed when an anchor read those numbers to him while discussing Biden’s border policy on Wednesday.
“I would love to sit down with your election team and show them how they got it wrong,” he said, citing other polls that affirm the parameters of the new Biden plan.
Tom Perez, a senior adviser to Joe Biden, seemed bewildered and scoffed at the idea that Biden’s immigration policies are unpopular after seeing a poll in favor of mass deportations.
He claimed that Biden’s action would be morally and legally correct, and even popular.
“It’s the right thing to do, the legal thing to do, and the smart thing to do,” he said.
“We keep families and communities together, and we have a labor shortage,” Pérez added.
The poll also showed that a majority of voters supported Biden’s recent executive action on the southern border.
Biden has deported and repatriated more people last year than 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 manage asylum claims and control border crossings more effectively.
The Biden administration has introduced measures to suspend the entry of migrants across the southern border once the average number of border encounters in a day reaches 2,500 for seven days in a row.
On Tuesday, Biden announced a sweeping new policy that would eliminate the threat of deportation for hundreds of thousands of people married to U.S. citizens.
Pérez affirmed that Biden’s action would be morally and legally correct, and even popular.
The idea is to make it easier to deport newly arrived immigrants if they do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States.
The White House’s decision earlier this month to implement a restrictive proposal that essentially halted asylum processing at the U.S.-Mexico border angered many of Biden’s political allies.
In the policy announced this week, Biden plans allow approximately 490,000 spouses of US citizens an opportunity 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 10 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 as the number of immigrants reaches historic levels and he prepares for a re-election race against Donald Trump, Biden signed into law earlier this month a border crackdown that critics say is similar to those applied by his predecessor.
The authority Biden is invoking not only provides protection from deportation and work permits, but also removes a legal barrier that allows qualified immigrants to apply for permanent residency and, eventually, U.S. citizenship.
It is a power that has already been used for other categories of immigrants, such as members of the US military or their family members who lack legal status.
Biden was also expected to announce a policy to make beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program eligible for visas, instead of the temporary work authorization they currently receive, according to two of the people briefed.
President Joe Biden announced a policy that will protect hundreds of thousands of spouses of US citizens from deportation
Colombian migrant David Laguada holds a sign that says “Help us, we are migrants” as he waits with his family for an appointment with CBP One to reach the United States next to the border wall during a heat wave in Mexicali, Mexico.
Still, Biden’s use of the authority could be legally challenged, as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program has faced.
The White House on Tuesday afternoon will commemorate the 12th anniversary of that program, which was created by then-President Barack Obama to protect young immigrants who lacked legal status, often known as ‘dreamers’.
Biden’s policy would only apply to long-time U.S. residents, but Republicans were still critical. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called him a “huge magnet” for potential migrants and said he would “draw even more people” to the border.