WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden defended his decision to send 1,500 troops to the southern U.S. border ahead of what is expected to be a historic migrant surge as Title 42 Covid restrictions expire on May 11.
“I’ve asked this Congress for help in terms of what they need at the border. They need more agents,” Biden said in an interview with Stephanie Ruhle, host of “The 11th Hour on MSNBC.” “They need more people to clear people.”
The newly dispatched troops are “there to free up the border agents that need to be on the border,” Biden said. “And we’re having another thousand people coming in; they are asylum judges, to make judgments to move things along.”
Under federal law, active-duty troops cannot directly enforce U.S. laws, including immigration laws. Democrats and Republicans have criticized the move, calling it political theater and charging that the president has had years to devise a response.
The deployments come as the number of attempted crossings is set to swell when the use of Title 42 comes to an end next week. The pandemic-era policy has allowed the Biden administration to expel people from the country rapidly under a health rule that was implemented by Donald Trump during the coronavirus emergency.
Speaking with Ruhle on Friday, Biden argued that a legislative response was needed and that it is up to Congress to pass an immigration bill.
There is an economic case at stake, Biden agreed.
“Bingo,” Biden told Ruhle. “We need these farmworkers.”
The president also called for a path to citizenship for young immigrants who came to the country illegally as children under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and who could one-day face deportation. U.S. companies have argued that ending DACA would hurt the economy.
The president also addressed his fitness for office as he embarks on a re-election campaign as the oldest president to serve in office.
“I’ve acquired a hell of a lot of wisdom and know more than the vast majority of people,” the president said. “I’m more experienced than anybody who has ever run for the office. And I think I’ve proven myself to be honorable as well as effective,” said Biden, who turns 82 soon after Election Day in 2024 and would leave office at age 86 if re-elected, has in the past dismissed concerns about his age, responding, “Watch me,” or asking the public to weigh him against a Republican alternative.
“I’ve acquired a hell of a lot of wisdom and know more than the vast majority of people. I’m more experienced than anybody who has ever run for the office."
President Joe Biden
Still, polling shows Biden's age remains a vulnerability with voters, with a majority of Americans telling NBC News that they do not want him to run for office again.
The president suggested bad press was to blame for surveys that show him underwater with the public.
“All they’ve heard is negative news. Everything is negative,” Biden said. “That’s number one.”
But the president indicated he was hopeful this could change as his administration ramps up spending from legislation passed during his first two years in office.
“Much of what we were able to do, only is going to come into play now,” Biden said. “It’s one thing to say we’re going to rebuild this bridge that is in the process of collapsing. It’s another thing to actually get it built yet. And that’s all just started.”
Biden also offered a defense of Vice President Kamala Harris, saying he did not think she got enough credit for her work.
"I just think that Vice President Harris hasn’t gotten the credit she deserves. She was an Attorney General in the state of California," he said. "She has been a United States Senator. She is really very, very good. And with everything going on, she hasn’t gotten the attention she deserves."
Separately, Biden said he is prepared to negotiate with Republicans over the nation's budget, but not the debt ceiling, which could be hit as soon as June 1 and trigger a default and possibly catastrophic economic reactions.
"I think that we have to make it clear to the American people that I am prepared to negotiate in detail with their budget. How much are you going to spend? How much are you going to tax? Where can we cut?" Biden said.
Biden said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is being driven by extreme factions in his caucus.
"He’s an honest man," Biden said of McCarthy. "The MAGA Republicans really have put him in a position where in order to stay Speaker he has to agree — he’s agreed to things that, maybe he believes, but are just extreme."
