President Biden compared the influx of Ukrainian refugees in Poland to the situation at the U.S.–Mexico border in comments during a meeting with Polish president Andrzej Duda in Warsaw on Saturday.
Poland has absorbed over 2.2 million Ukrainian refugees since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine at the end of February. Biden called on other NATO allies to receive more refugees fleeing from the war.
“We do acknowledge that Poland is taking on a significant responsibility that I don’t think should just be Poland, it should be the whole world—all of NATO’s responsibility. The fact that you have so many Ukrainians seeking refuge in this country of Poland, we understand that because we have on our southern border thousands of people a day—literally, not figuratively—trying to get to the United States,” Biden said at a bilateral meeting with Duda.
Biden added that his administration believes it should “do our part relative to Ukraine as well by opening our borders to another 100,000 people,” apparently referencing a decision to accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees under temporary protected status.
U.S. border agents encountered over 2 million migrants at the southern border during President Biden’s first year in office. The influx saw record-breaking monthly totals, with a high of 213,593 encounters recorded in July 2021.
The U.S. border crisis is ongoing with 164,973 migrant encounters reported in February, up over 60 percent from February 2021. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement report released in March showed that ICE arrests and deportations dropped after the president assumed office.