Rep. Adam Schiff claims border has been a 'top priority' for Democrats
Rep. Adam Schiff claimed Thursday during "The View" that the border has been a "top priority" for Democrats.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., joined the hosts of "The View" on Thursday and was pressed on the southern border, claiming the issue was a "very strong priority" for Democrats.
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin asked Schiff about President Biden's plans to visit the southern border Sunday and whether the Democratic Party should have made the border more of an issue, citing the millions of illegal crossings last year. Biden is expected to visit El Paso, Texas, which will mark the first time the president will go to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office.
"I think it has been a very strong priority, and what we really need is a comprehensive approach to the border that is fair and humane and enforceable, and it’s very hard to do that on a single-party basis. We really need to work together on this. We have come close at times, but at the moment it seems to be again the third rail of American politics,' Schiff said.
Rep. Adam Schiff joins the hosts of "The View." (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
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Schiff praised the Biden administration and said they were trying to do "everything they can."
"I think the administration is working in good faith. They’re trying everything they can. I look forward to the president visiting the border and any new initiatives that he might announce. We ought to have an immigration policy that’s consistent with our values as a nation that is also workable and pragmatic, and I hope that we can get there," Schiff continued.
Biden and Democrats have taken heat from Republicans over illegal immigration, which has surged since they took power in 2021. Biden announced plans to triple refugee resettlement from Latin American and Caribbean countries and to expand a humanitarian parole program for Venezuelan nationals to include Haitians, Cubans and Nicaraguans.
"These actions alone that I'm going to announce today aren't going to fix our entire immigration system, but they can help us a good deal in managing what is a difficult challenge," he said.
"The View" hosts, Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
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The president urged migrants not to come to the border.
"Do not just show up at the border, stay where you are and apply legally from there," he said. He added that people who do "will not be allowed to enter."
Joe Biden makes some awkward ethnic comments during a recent town hall in Delaware. (Screenshot/Twitter)
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Vice President Kamala Harris said in September 2022 that the border was "secure" during an interview.
"I think that there is no question that we have to do what the president and I asked Congress to do, the first request we made: pass a bill to create a pathway to citizenship," Harris told NBC's Chuck Todd. "The border is secure, but we also have a broken immigration system, in particular, over the last four years before we came in, and it needs to be fixed."
As of the end of December, there had been 617,250 total migrant encounters at the border since Oct. 1, a new record for the months of October, November, and December. Border patrol sources told Fox News there is an average of 6,858 encounters each day.
Fox News' Chris Pandolfo and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.