President Biden on Immigration

Questions were thick, fast and aggressive at the first press conference, yesterday, 25 March, given by US President Biden, since he took office. Rather surprising, despite some 546,000 deaths, there wasn’t a single question about the pandemic.

But many questions on immigration and dealing with migrant children at the US border.

In one response to a reporter about how the US is going to “physically and realistically keep these families from coming to the US”, President Biden, recalled the perilous journey made by his Irish great grandfather: “When my great grandfather got on a coffin ship in the Irish Sea, expectation was: Was he going to live long enough on that ship to get to the United States of America? But they left because of what the Brits had been doing. They were in real, real trouble. They didn’t want to leave. But they had no choice.”

Here is the full text of that interaction:

Reporter’s Question: As you well know, treating the root causes in Latin America doesn’t change things overnight. How do you realistically and physically keep these families from coming to the U.S. when things will not get better in their countries right away?

US President Biden: Well, I can’t guarantee that. But I know, you know, that old thing: The journey of 1,000 miles starts with the first step.

You know as well as I do; you cover it: You have serious - it’s not like somebody at a sitting hand-hewn table in Guatemala - I mean, in — in somewhere in Mexico or in Guadalupe, saying, “I got a great idea. Let’s sell everything we have. Give it to a coyote. Have him take our kids across the border and into a desert where they don’t speak the language. Won’t that be fun? Let’s go.” That’s not how it happens. People don’t want to leave.

When my great grandfather got on a coffin ship in the Irish Sea, expectation was: Was he going to live long enough on that ship to get to the United States of America? But they left because of what the Brits had been doing. They were in real, real trouble. They didn’t want to leave. But they had no choice. So you got - we can’t - I can’t guarantee we’re going to solve everything, but I can guarantee we can make everything better. We can make it better. We can change the lives of so many people.

And the other thing I want to point out to you and I hope you point out: I realize it’s much more heart wrenching - and it is - to deal with a five- and six- and seven-year-old. But you went down there, and you saw: The vast majority of these children - 70 percent - are 16 years old, 17 years old, and mostly males. Doesn’t make it - that doesn’t make it good, bad, or indifferent. But the idea that we have tens of thousands of kids in these God-awful facilities that are, really, little babies crying all night - and there’s some; that’s true. That’s why we got to act.”