Jennifer Rene Psaki and Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas

“ No planning had been done to protect the frontline personnel of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other frontline personnel that address the needs of individuals coming to our border. Contracts had been entered that were unlawful or against the interests of the United States Department of Justice. And that’s just the tip of it.
And I must tell you that it pains me profoundly to say this today, on March 1st, the 18th anniversary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
It takes time to rebuild an entire system and to process individuals at the border in a safe and just way. ”

“ Well, the President — President Biden just decisively beat Donald Trump a few months ago. That’s why we’re all here having so much fun together in here. And — but his focus, and I think one of the ways that he convinces foreign allies and partners that America is back and we want a seat at the table, is by keeping his focus on his commitments he made on the campaign trail, which is: building the economy back better, bringing an end to the pandemic, rebuilding our relationships around the world, and not focusing time and energy and effort on a political campaign. ”

“ That is especially true when we’re in the midst of the pandemic and are obligated, of course, to adhere to the restrictions and procedures that have been promulgated by the CDC to ensure public safety, including the safety of the individuals who arrive at our border. It takes time to build out of the depths of cruelty that the administration before us established. ”

“ The First Lady has driven us to action through her personal commitment to this moral imperative. And that moral imperative is to reunite the families and restore them to the fullest capacity that we, as the United States government, can do. ”

“ We’re not quite there yet in terms of laying out his exact agenda. Obviously there are global objectives — getting the pandemic under control; working together to get our economy up and going again, which is something that the United States is obviously grappling with, but many countries around the world are grappling with. ”

“ Well, I don’t think anyone runs for President or is elected if they have a thin skin. And, certainly, any action you take on an issue like global diplomacy or an issue where there’s a complicated relationship — I think he fully expected there might be some criticism.But his objective, his role as President of the United States and as Commander-in-Chief of the country is to act in the national interest of the United States, and that’s exactly what he’s doing in this relati- — in this case — that he’s acting on the advice of his national security team. ”

“ The House is set to vote on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act that is running headlong into a Senate filibuster. Does the President support nixing the filibuster as a means of passing voting rights? And if not, how is he going to leverage his political capital to make sure that this Democratic priority becomes law? MS. PSAKI: Well, first, the President is committed to protecting the fundamental right to vote and making easier for all eligible Americans to vote. His campaign was about fighting for democracy, and we’re going to continue to fight for democracy in the White House. ”

“ So, yesterday, former President Trump suggested he might run again, meaning he will be back in 2024. You said the White House is not paying attention to President Trump — former President Trump, but how do you think foreign leaders are looking at this? Because this is one of the reasons foreign allies still have doubts, and many — if they can trust the U.S. again. So how do you also think President Biden can convince global allies that they can trust the United States and reclaim U.S. leadership? ”

“ We are dedicated to achieving and, quite frankly, are working around the clock to replace the cruelty of the past administration with an orderly, humane, and safe immigration process. It is hard, and it will take time. ”

“ Our overarching goal is, of course, to be as humane as the law provides, to be as restorative as the law enables us to be to bring justice to these families.One of the tasks of the Reunification Task Force will be, of course, in addition to reuniting those families — which, of course, is the most acute urgency — to also take a look at the system and ensure — to your very important question, to ensure that it does not happen again. ”

“ The Border Patrol is only a pass-through. We are obligated to turn that child over to the Department of Health and Human Services within 72 hours. We are a pass-through. And then, Health and Human Services — or HHS, of course, that is commonly referred to — addresses the needs of that child as HHS is identifying and vetting sponsors in — whose trust the child can be placed while the child is in immigration proceedings. ”

“ Working very closely with the Mexican government and international organizations in Mexico, we have developed a virtual platform that enables individuals with active cases in the “Remain in Mexico” program to actually register for relief using their phones. The international organizations then work with those individuals to test them, process their cases, and transport them safely and, according to a defined schedule, to the port of entry where we are awaiting them and can process them through the port of entry successfully. ”

“ For almost a full year now, new unemployment claims have exceeded the pre-pandemic all-time high. And the economic data shows a K-shaped recovery with millions of workers at risk of being left behind. That’s why it’s absolutely critical Congress act, and we certainly hope they do that as quickly as possible.
One last note: Today, as many of you know — all of you know, the President will meet with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the President of Mexico. ”

“ For example, we’ve also begun to rebuild a process for young people to be able to access avenues of protection without having to take the perilous journey. We have begun to develop and rebuild the program to reunify individuals with their families here in the United States, as was once the case. ”

“ Certainly the loss of life, the number of people who have been impacted in Brazil and many places in the world, including the United States, is an incredible tragedy. But in terms of specific conversations, I’d refer to you to the State Department. They would have more specifics and more updated conversations to read out for you. Q Can I ask — MS. PSAKI: Go ahead. Q — just one more question about South America? There was some hope in South America that President Biden would be an ally because he was — he has experience leading issues in the region during the Obama administration. ”

“ I mean, our objective, of course, is to ensure as many Americans as possible are vaccinated as quickly as possible. And we will have enough vaccines to vaccinate — ensure every American has a vaccine by the end of July, if not sooner — likely sooner.So our — at a certain point, we’re going to reach — we will have more vaccines than there are people who want to take them. ”

“ But just mere questions about someone’s personal life or sex life or romantic life, or anything that makes someone feel uncomfortable, especially in a subordinate relationship with someone in power — is that something where someone should have to resign, or should there be other consequences? ”

“ That’s why he proposed making sure the very richest Americans pay the same rate on the income from their wealth that a worker pays, as well as closing loopholes that allow them to entirely escape tax.Obviously, our focus is on the American Rescue Plan. Addressing the inequities in the tax code is something he talked about as part of his Build Back Better agenda, and it’s something he remains committed to. He has a lot of respect for Senator Warren and is aligned on the goal of ensuring the ultra-wealthy and big corporations finally pay their fair share. ”

“ The next step is economic recovery, and that is ensuring that our neighbors, Mexico and Canada, have similarly managed the pandemic so that we can open borders — open our borders and “build back better.” ”

“ We need individuals to wait. And I will say that they will wait with a goal in mind, and that is our ability to rebuild, as quickly as possible, a system so that they don’t have to take the dangerous journey and we can enable them to access humanitarian relief from their countries of origin. ”

“ Well, first, let me note that on — just about a month ago, the United States, through USAID, announced it has delivered an addit- — $1.5 million for emergency COVID-19 response in Brazil. We did that, of course, because we want to be a collaborative and cooperative partner in addressing the pandemic.Our focus is on — here — is on getting the American people vaccinated. That needs to be our focus now. But, of course, we believe that the more people in our global community who are vaccinated, the safer we all are. It’s just what our current focus is at this point in time. ”

“ But what we’re working to do is take a number of steps to ensure people have access to more easily figure out when they can get a vaccine and when they’re eligible — in part because, as you know, everybody doesn’t have access to the Internet, everybody doesn’t know how to figure that out online.So, certainly that’s one tool. ”

“ And is there a sense of urgency on the part of the White House to get Iran to the table, given the developments and the progression of its program? MS. PSAKI: Well, first let me say we’re disappointed in Iran’s response. We remain ready to re-engage in meaningful diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to compliance with JCPOA commitments. And we will be consulting at every level with our P5+1 partners on the best way forward. ”

“ I would say, on the minimum wage, the President included a raise of the minimum wage in his package because he felt strongly that it’s long overdue that men and women working hard trying to make ends meet shouldn’t be living at the poverty level. ”

“ This is a crucial step because it structurally addresses an unacceptable pattern of targeting, monitoring, harassment, and threats to dissidents and journalists. And we believe our team — our national security team believes that going after the network responsible for these actions is the best way to prevent a crime like this from ever happening again. That is our objective. ”

“ Q Secretary Mayorkas, a question about how unaccompanied migrant children are handled. The process that you articulated is the same as it was under former President Trump. It’s the same as it was under former President Biden [sic] .The difference, as I understand it, with the Trump administration was that they held children for a longer period of time. How can that process be sped up? There are immigration advocates who say most kids who come here unaccompanied have the name or a phone number of a relative here in the U.S. and that they should be matched with them promptly. ”

“ I’m certain those will be part of the agenda, but we’re not quite at the point of previewing a summit that’s happening in a few months. A lot can happen in the world between now and then.In terms of whether or not he will travel, we haven’t made a determination on that at this point either. It will be related to COVID restrictions and the advice of our health and medical team. ”

“ And we certainly believe that every woman coming forward — Charlotte, Lindsey — have — should be treated with respect and dignity and be able to tell their story and treated with respect.There is a process of reviewing — as you noted, an independent investigation. ”

“ But our focus is on — his focus, the administration’s focus is on ensuring that every American is vaccinated. And once we accomplish that objective, we’re happy to discuss further steps beyond that. Q One other thing that the President of Mexico is expected to propose is an idea to bring an immigrant labor program to the U.S. that could bring 600- to 800,000 immigrants a year to work legally in the United States. Is that something President Biden would consider? ”

“ The killings represent an escalation of the ongoing crackdown on pro-democracy protesters since the February 1st coup. We are preparing the additional actions to impose further costs on those responsible for this latest outbreak of violence and the recent coup. ”

“ In February alone, we have vaccin- — we started at 2 percent of that frontline personnel workforce vaccinated. At the end of February, we were — we were able to reach 20 percent of the frontline personnel. ”

“ Q And then another on foreign policy. The President has not taken any direct action against the Saudi Crown Prince in response to his involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Why not? And what message is the President sending to autocrats around the world that they can kill a journalist or their own citizens with impunity and not suffer personal sanctions? ”