President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he did not believe there was a migration crisis on the southern border.
Biden commented after concluding remarks about the ongoing national effort to develop and deliver coronavirus vaccines.
One reporter asked the president if he believed there was a crisis on the southern border.
“No,” he replied. “We’ll be able to handle it. God willing.”
Biden confirmed he was briefed on the looming surge of unattended migrant children at the border.
When he was asked what he learned, the president replied shortly “A lot.”
The Department of Homeland Security predicts there will be 117,000 unaccompanied child migrants crossing the border in 2021, according to an Axios report.
Additionally, officials advised that the United States would need 20,000 beds to house incoming child migrants.
In January alone, 6,000 migrants aged 16 and 17 were caught, according to the prepared report.
Biden commented after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas first declared Monday that there was no crisis on the border.
“I think the answer is no,” Mayorkas said when asked by a reporter if there was a crisis on the border. “I think there is a challenge at the border that we are managing, and we have our resources dedicated to managing it.”
Mayorkas even said that unattended migrant children could still come to the United States, but he urged them to wait.
“We are not saying don’t come,” he said. “We are saying don’t come now, because we will be able to deliver a safe and orderly process to them as quickly as possible.”