Roberta Ann Steinfield Jacobson and Jennifer Rene Psaki

“ I think what we are doing is making sure that we respond to that hope for people who need protection; we respond to that hope in a way that their cases can be adjudicated more quickly.But I don’t think anybody would say that coming to the United States in an irregular fashion is a good thing. That’s why I’ve tried repeatedly to dissuade people from — from listening to those smugglers. But we’re going to try our best to do everything we can, at each end of this — in the United States, but especially in Central America and Mexico — to ensure we have safe, orderly, and legal migration. ”

“ When you add a pandemic to that, it’s clear it will take significant time to overcome.
We must build a better immigration system that reflects our values as Americans, enforces our laws, safeguards public health, and moves away from cycles of irregular migration.
Today I’m here to talk about what we’re doing with partners in Mexico and Central America to ensure that people don’t make this dangerous journey and instead have opportunities for economic advancement and safety at home. ”

“ And part of what we want to do is empower them — whether that’s more effective, you know, economic support; whether it’s training for young people; whether it’s anti-gang programs; whether it’s mothers clubs and empowering local communities. All of that gets done through people on the ground, not by the United States. So we want to be able to empower those actors.
I also think that it’s really important when you say, “What leverage do you have?” Well, I do think that working as partners with these countries means sitting down and talking about what we can do together. ”

“ The private sector in all of these countries — in Central America, in particular — is a really important player here. And I think, to be very honest, we have not seen them step up. One of the mechanisms that was really effective under the Obama-Biden administration was: For every dollar that the U.S. put into an assistance program, we asked for private-sector organizations, local chambers of commerce, or business organizations to either match us or exceed us. This gives the private sector skin in the game. It makes sure that they are part of the solution. ”

“ Should the administration have been better prepared to handle this influx of children before it changed the policy allowing them to stay in the country? AMBASSADOR JACOBSON: Well, I think there’s a couple of things. I think what we’re doing right now is making a difference in the home countries, beginning to work with governments. You know, that couldn’t start until January 20th; there is one government at a time. You can’t start changing processes of government, building facilities. ”

“ I think some of the lessons we’re already implementing, including having a point person in charge, and including ensuring there’s a sustained campaign that is not just about the President of the United States or the Vice President of the United States speaking about the benefits, but that really engages our partners and allies, whether it’s governors or mayors, local community leaders to ensure there is effective implementation and communication about the package. ”

“ Well, first, the President’s focus every day when he wakes up is ensuring every American — we can ensure that every American has access to a vaccine and that we are vaccinating the people in this country.But here are a couple of the factors that we’re — we’re — have weighed in on our decision to purchase an additional 100 million doses: We still don’t know which vaccine will be most effective on kids. ”

“ We’re about to pass a historic — the most progressive bill in American history. It’s — it’s passing today.Look, I would say that the President believes that — and he talked about this on the campaign trail. As you mentioned, it was certainly a promise of his that we can create — the United States and many other countries around the world — we’ll focus on here — can create good-paying union jobs that are also consistent with our objective of addressing the climate crisis. And certainly, that is central to how he’s thinking about his agenda, moving forward. ”

“ Well, the President, the Vice President, the First Lady, the Second Gentleman, a number of members of our Cabinet will be communicating directly with the American people, engaging directly with the American people, and all sending a clear message: Help is on the way.Over the next few weeks, we are going to swiftly put in place implementation plans — I’ve touched on a little bit of that — and plans to get aid to the people in places that need it the most, as quickly as possible. ”

“ Now that the stimulus package is passed and many undocumented immigrants, who are not benefited in any way by the money that’s going out, does the President plan any executive action or anything else to do — to help that population? ”

“ Every school district is going to work to implement those on a timeline that is — they can effectively do. Many school districts are reopening. Right? Many are reopening, every single week — and day and week, right?That is a different circumstance than what we are seeing at the border. And HHS oversees the facilities — these facilities, right? They’re working with — they’re working on ensuring we can have more kids safely. ”

“ This is, of course, a continuation of the work we’ve done over the last two months to build support for the Rescue Plan — communicating directly with the American people; building support among mayors, governors, labor leaders, the business community, and other stakeholders. ”

“ As part of that plan, we will address the causes that compel individuals to migrate, including improving governance and providing a foundation for investment and economic opportunity, strengthening civilian security and the rule of law. Working across the whole of government, we will look at access to international protection and refugee resettlement, and rethinking asylum processing to ensure fair and faster consideration. ”

“ You’ve been telling migrants — from right there, for a month now, all the way back to February 10th — that “now is not the time to come,” but they are coming in bigger numbers every day. So, do you have a messaging problem? MS. PSAKI: Well, I would say that, in the last administration, we had a morality problem, and children were being pulled from the arms of their parents, and kids were being set — sent back on a treacherous journey. And that’s not the approach of this administration.So, certainly, we understand that means there will be more kids who are crossing the border. ”

“ The meeting is an opportunity to address a wide range of issues, including ones where we have deep disagreements. We intend to discuss our expectations, and will be frank in explaining Beijing’s actions and behavior challenge to the security, prosperity — and our concerns about challenges they pose to the security and values of the United States and our allies and partners. ”

“ This administration’s belief is that we can get our message across that it is a more humane policy by opening up avenues of legal migration, which will encourage people to take those legal options and go through the asylum process, if they are seeking that, and not take the irregular road. ”

“ Q So you’ve said many times that President Biden’s preference is not to change the rules around filibuster. But if the next big pieces of his agenda are stymied in the Senate, are there changes to the filibuster that he can live with, such as the talking filibuster? MS. PSAKI: Well, the President believes that there are a range of issues where there’s historic — there’s historic precedent of Democrats and Republicans working together, whether it’s infrastructure, as we’ve been talking about, or modernizing the immigration system. ”

“ And the fact is, we are all focused on improving the situation, on changing to a more humane and efficient system. And — and whatever you call it wouldn’t change what we’re doing because we have urgency, from the President on down, to fix our system and make sure that we are better at dealing with the hopes and the dreams of these migrants in their home country. Q Madam Ambassador, do you think it’s a coincidence that as soon as Trump and his immigration policy were on the way out, and Biden and his stated policy were on the way in, this historic surge at the border started? ”

“ Only by addressing those root causes can we break the cycle of desperation and provide hope for families who clearly would prefer to stay in their countries and provide a better future for their children. ”

“ We made a policy decision that that was the right, humane step to take. But I think it’s also important for people to understand that the vast majority of people who come to our border are turned away, are sent back to their countries. ”

“ MS. PSAKI: I’m happy to discuss this with our team. I’m not as familiar with the case, but I will look into it, and we’ll get you back an answer. Q Thanks. MS. PSAKI: Sure. Go ahead, Kaitlan. Q First off, has President Biden been briefed yet by his delegation that went to the border over the weekend? And does he now feel the need to go to the border, if he has been briefed by them? MS. PSAKI: Sure. Well, I can confirm for you that the President did receive a briefing earlier today from members of his team that visited the border region this past weekend. ”

“ I know you are very excited about the website, which many people are.You know, I would say, you know, as you know, the website is being implemented as a — “VaccineFinder,” I should say — is being implemented as a pilot program. We’ve always been open to expanding the pilot program, and we’re certainly looking into that. We’re also looking into — and others have asked this question — how we can better assist state and local governments who have their own websites where they are utilized by ma- — members of the local community — and effective — but sometimes they have technical issues. ”

“ We will work with officials that we can work with, but we also think it’s really important that these countries make commitments — really explicit commitments to advancing on anti-corruption. And in some places, that will be hard to do if you’ve got officials for whom there is a cloud. ”

“ And we are still going to focus on combating the issues of misinformation and, of course, of vaccine hesitancy in a range of communities.The FDA, as you know, would be the ones running point on approval of vaccines for children. I can’t really predict when children will be vaccinated, and we don’t know when the FDA may approve a vaccine. But our role is ensuring there’s enough supply and that there is enough distribution. ”

“ We’re looking at a range of options, which include the opening of additional facilities. It includes steps we can take to expedite the processing. It includes application and implementation of these CDC guidelines that were — just came out that allow for more children to be housed safely in these facilities. So we’re looking at every option possible to help address the challenges we’re facing at the border. ”

“ Of course, I’m sure COVID, which is a pandemic everyone in the world is dealing with, will be a topic of discussion. But there’ll be issues like climate that are addressed. Economic cooperation. I’m sure they’ll have a range of issues to bring up, and we will provide a readout when the meeting concludes tomorrow. Q And just a little bit more on that — what about in terms of the military balance? I mean, we know that China just announced a huge defense spending — 6.8 percent, I believe, for this year. Is that also a top item in the agenda? ”

“ We’ll be emphasizing a number of components that are in the package and really having a conversation — this is important to the President, personally — having a conversation directly with people about how they can benefit, addressing questions they have, even taking their feedback on implementation and how to make it clear. ”

“ Well, ultimately, the President is responsible for the policy on key issues and key challenges the country is facing, and immigration is certainly one of them.You’re right: There are a number of agencies involved in this effort, but I will say — I would say they’re all playing a pivotal role. The Department of Homeland Security. The — we don’t have a Health and Human Services Secretary confirmed yet; when he is, he will play a pivotal role. But a whole team at HHS, as you know. ”

“ And I think that it’s really important that we put that to use now.One of the things he thinks is so important is being really explicit with leadership in the countries from which migrants are coming about commitments that they need to make, because overcoming the reasons people migrate is not going to be the United States’ job alone. ”

“ Q And how long do you think that implementation will take? MS. PSAKI: I can’t give you really a timeline of that. Obviously, there are things — there are different components, as you well know — right? Getting the checks out the door — our Treasury team and our economic team are crunching the numbers on that. We hope to have an update for all of you soon on that.Obviously, reopening schools, as Nancy was asking about, — it really is school district to school district, in terms of what their needs will be, which schools need funding, which districts need funding. ”

“ The Vice President — the President, when he was Vice President, worked on these issues. We know how to get money to communities that are most likely to send migrants, but also that are suffering the greatest effect of two hurricanes this season, et cetera. ”