President Joe Biden endorsed ongoing migration into the United States on Wednesday after releasing a record number of migrants from Central America claiming asylum to enter the country.
“Safe and orderly migration is good for all of our economies, including the United States,” Biden said. “It can be a catalyst for sustainable growth.”
The president made his remarks at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, despite multiple leaders of prominent Central American countries choosing not to attend the summit.
A caravan of at least 10,000 migrants from Central America is currently moving through Mexico with the hopes they can cross into the United States without being stopped.
Biden added afterward in his speech that “unlawful migration is not acceptable” and promised to “enforce our borders,” despite reports that he has brought in about 1.35 million illegal aliens into the United States since taking office by loosening immigration policies.
The president previewed a new approach to migration through the “Los Angeles Declaration,” which he described as a “ground-breaking, integrated new approach to managing migration and sharing responsibility across the hemisphere.”
The president blamed the coronavirus pandemic and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine for hurting families across the region with “global inflammatory pressures.”
“All of these factors are contributing to vastly increased migration flows throughout our hemisphere with too many people feeling there is no option available to them to provide for themselves and their families,” he said.