President Joe Biden on Saturday compared Poland 's taking in more than 2 million Ukraine refugees to the migrant situation on th...
President Joe Biden on Saturday compared Poland's taking in more than 2 million Ukraine refugees to the migrant situation on the Southern border of the U.S.
The odd comparision came as Biden was thanking Polish President Andrzej Duda for his country's response to the humanitarian crisis and pledging U.S. financial aid.
'We do acknowledge Poland has taken on a lot with all of the responsibility,' Biden said.
'The fact that you have so many Ukrainians seeking refuge in this country of Poland. We understand that because we have, at our southern border, thousands of people per day literally, not figuratively, trying to get into the United States,' he said.
Refugees wait for transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland; Poland has taken in nearly 2 million refugees
Ukrainian refugees board a train bound to Krakow, at Przemysl Glowny train station, after fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Ukrainian refugees rest in the ticket hall at Przemysl Glowny train station, after fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine
President Joe Biden compared Poland's taking in more than 2 million Ukraine refugees to the migrant situation on the Southern border of the U.S.
Some 3.5 million people have fled the Ukraine and nearly 2 million are in Poland, which shares a nearly 300-mile border with its neighbor.
Humanitarian organizations, NGOs, and governments around the world have sent food, money and medical equipment to help what the United Nations is calling the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.
In contrast, the officials on the United States border are dealing with a flux of immigrants, many from Latin American countries, who are seeking a better life.
But most of the crossings are illegal and they are on the rise.
According to preliminary U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data obtained by The Washington Post, authorities are on pace to make more than 200,000 detentions along the Mexican border in March, the highest monthly total since August.
CBP has been overwhelmed with the number of migrants, trying to find places to hold them as they await answers on their applications for asylum.
And the United States government, since March 2020, have used the emergency public health order known as Title 42, to allow CBP agents to bypass standard immigration proceedings and rapidly deport most migrants to their home countries or to Mexico.
A family seeking asylum in the USA give their documents to USA border patrol after crossing into the USA from Mexico in Yuma, Arizona
Border patrol agents and members of the Texas Army National Guard light the path as asylum-seeking migrants from Central and South America wade through the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico
The government has carried out more than 1.7 million expulsions, saying the Title 42 measures are needed to prevent the spread of covid.
Currently immigration courts are backlogged with 1.7 million cases and asylum claims can take up to five years to be adjudicated. About 672,000 of the cases waiting to be heard are asylum cases.
The situation on the U.S. southern border has become a political hot potato with Republicans decrying the large number of migrants crossing the border and Democrats preussing Biden to end the Title 42 rule, calling it an inhumane policy.
Duda, who appeared with Biden on Friday, in contrast, said the Ukrainian refugees coming into his country are 'guests.'
'We do not want to call them refugees. They are our guests, our brothers, our neighbors from Ukraine, who today are in a very difficult situation,' he said.
The U.S. has been sending money and supplies but will ramp up its contributions. Biden announced $1 billion in additional aid and said the U.S. would welcome an additional 100,000 refugees.
Biden told Duda the United States would do more to help the Ukrainian refugees.
'We believe that we should do our part relative to Ukraine as well by opening our borders to another 100,000 people,' he said.
The funding will provide food, shelter, clean water, medical supplies and other forms of assistance, according to the White House.
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