Tipsheet

Has Biden 'Worked Since Day One' on Border Security?

Mia Cathell
Mia Cathell  |  January 06, 2023 1:30 PM

The White House is now claiming that border security is an issue President Joe Biden has taken "very, very seriously since Day One" and pointed fingers at the Republican Party for the slow progress we've seen in the tightening of security at America's southern border. Has Biden, who has yet to visit the embattled border, prioritized the issue of illegal immigration?

CLAIM: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed that Biden is "a president who has been working since Day One to work on border security, to make immigration a priority. That's why he put forth a comprehensive immigration reform plan."

Jean-Pierre's claim was in response to Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asking at a White House press conference Tuesday: "Does anybody around here think that the southern border is secure?" Jean-Pierre blamed the GOP and reiterated that U.S.-Mexico border security is "an issue that the president has taken very, very seriously since Day One of his administration."

"And here's the thing: As the president is coming forward and trying to come up with solutions, the difference here is that you have Republicans who are doing political stunts. And we've called that out over and over and over again," Jean-Pierre stated.

FACTS: On the first day of Biden's presidential term, he signed a Day One executive order that halted the border wall's construction. By proclamation, Biden declared an immediate termination, a reversal stopping all wall construction projects, of the national emergency declaration that the Trump administration used to divert federal funding to build the border wall.

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In another Day One executive action, Biden strengthened legal protections for "Dreamers," illegal immigrants brought to the United States as minors, after former President Donald Trump tried to terminate the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, otherwise known as DACA. "The president-elect is committed to preserving and fortifying DACA," according to the White House fact check announcing Biden signed a presidential memorandum directing the secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the attorney general, to "take all appropriate actions under the law to achieve that goal."

Biden's memorandum also called on Congress to enact legislation providing permanent status and a path to citizenship for immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and "have lived, worked, and contributed to our country for many years."

But none of Biden's executive orders demonstrate he provided or ramped up security along the border on Day One.

During a 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate, then-presidential candidate Biden argued for a more open-asylum policy: "I would, in fact, make sure that there is—we immediately surge to the border. All those people seeking asylum, they deserve to be heard. That's who we are. We're a nation that says if you want to flee, and you're fleeing oppression, you should come."

Biden reversed course since taking office as U.S. Border Patrol agents continue to be overwhelmed by illegal border crossings. "Don't come," Biden begged asylum-seekers in an ABC News sitdown interview last year. "Yes, I can say quite clearly: Don't come over..." Biden told George Stephanopoulos in March 2021. "So, don't leave your town or city or community," he instructed.

Biden now says he "intends" to visit the border ahead of next week's Mexico City trip. "That's my intention. We're working out the details," Biden said after two years of rejecting calls for a long-awaited border visit. Just last month, when Doocy asked the president why he'd travel to Arizona and not visit the border, Biden replied: "Because there's more important things going on..."

RATING: The White House's claim that Biden has worked "since Day One" on border security is FALSE.