(Photo : Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
President Joe Biden gave additional insight into his continuing discussions with Democrats on Thursday, spelling out in the most explicit words yet what will and won't be included in a compromise budget bill that comprises the majority of his broad domestic agenda.
The bill aims to strengthen the social safety net, address climate change, and boost taxes on the rich. During a CNN town hall in Baltimore, Biden stated categorically that he would oppose a work condition for the Child Tax Credit, which is being pushed by moderate West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin as part of the Democrats' big social spending plan.
Biden's lukewarm answer about Southern border
According to town hall moderator Anderson Cooper, the President also acknowledged that a paid parental leave provision in his social safety net proposal had been reduced from 12 weeks to 4 weeks, as per WICZ.
Including dental, vision, and hearing coverage in Medicare, a key demand for progressives, would be a "reach," the President said, adding that Manchin opposed the proposal and that he felt Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, was against it as well. Instead, he claimed he was working on including a $800 dental voucher and that vision coverage was still being negotiated.
Meanwhile, Biden said he "guesses" he should go check out the southern border for himself, days after fresh data revealed that a record number of migrants were brought into US custody this year, Daily Mail reported.
During a CNN town hall in Baltimore hosted by Anderson Cooper, Biden highlighted his accomplishment in reducing the number of children in Border Patrol custody. According to the president, the number of children detained decreased from 5,000 to 504 in his first year in office.
However, fresh data acquired by the Washington Post indicates that between October 2020 and September 2021, the US arrested more than 1.7 million migrants along the US-Mexico border, the largest amount since 1986.
Because of high levels of the virus in Latin America, the commander-in-chief revealed that he had left Title 42 in place, a Trump-era order that empowers the administration to unilaterally deport migrants due to COVID-19 concerns.
The president, 78, also claimed that he was required by the court to continue Donald Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy. In 2019, Trump implemented the Migrant Protection Protocols, often known as the "Remain in Mexico" strategy. Asylum applicants are forced to wait in Mexico for asylum hearings in the United States.
Immigrants crossing the border increased during Biden's presidency
According to Reuters, Trump said that many asylum claims were false, and that those who were permitted into the country may wind up staying illegally if they skipped court appearances.
Biden, a Democrat, promised a more compassionate approach when he took office in January, but Texas US District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk decided in August that he had to retain the policy. Biden addressed a series of questions from Megan Crawford, a Republican law student at the University of Baltimore, at Thursday's town hall.
Illegal border crossings spiked in the months following Biden's presidency, and while the government first blamed Trump's policies, some migrants say they came to the US in the hope that the new administration would let them remain.
Another factor, according to migrants, was labor shortages in the United States, which demonstrated a demand for employees. Biden previously dismissed the escalating issue, saying that the spike in spring 2021 was in line with seasonal trends.
However, this did not hold true during the hottest months of the year, July and August, when the largest numbers of illegal crossings occurred. Every month, more than 200,000 migrants are apprehended by CBP.
More than 25,000 Haitian migrants landed in Del Rio, Texas, last month, swiftly overwhelming local officials and resulting in chaotic images of border patrol officers using horse reins that resembled whips near the refugees.
According to two DHS officials, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas questioned top officials if the border was prepared for a worst-case scenario of 350,000 to 400,000 people crossing the border this month.
Related Article: Biden Administration Hides Border Policy Consequences, Secretly Flying Hundreds of Minor Migrants to New York at Night
