The following is a transcript of an interview with White House adviser Keisha Lance Bottoms that aired on Sunday, Dec. 18. 2022, on “Face the Nation.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is a Senior Adviser to President Biden for Public engagement. Good morning to you.
KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS: Good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Immigration is top of mind here. You just heard from two Democrats who have been sharply critical of the Administration not doing more in the face of this expiration of title 42. What is the administration doing to urge migrants not to come?
KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS: While the administration has been working for months planning for the end of Title 42, and you have to remember, Margaret, these aren’t people who are attempting to illegally cross the border. These are people who are presenting themselves asking that they be processed in accordance with the laws of the United States. So people have to remember Title 42 is a public health emergency order. If Title 42 goes away, we will then go back to Title 8, which allows for a process which is the reason why the administration has asked Congress to fund more than $3 billion to help us provide the resources that will be needed to process these migrants to make sure that people are treated humanely, to make sure that the bordering communities have the resources that they need.
And we need Congress to be a partner in this and we need Congress to act. Because this is a – -this is a global issue that we are facing in the White House alone can’t do it. We need support from Congress.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So I mean, you make an important point that it is a right to be able to ask for asylum. What happens when Title 42 goes away, is that people can’t be expelled. What it allowed for was expelling without the guarantee of an asylum hearing. So this means that people will be allowed to stay until they get their day in court. So this will mean more people coming into the United States. They may be in a process that could last years, frankly. And so that’s why I come back to that fundamental question of what is the White House doing to say, “Don’t come to the border and try to claim asylum.”
KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS:
While what the White House has done has said very publicly that we want people to avail themselves of a lawful process. What we are seeing happening is that many people are taking advantage of the fact that Title 42 may go away. This week, we see many people exploiting migrants saying come now or you lose your ability to come at all. And that’s simply not the case. But again, this is not just an issue that we are facing in the United States. This is a global issue. So the President has been working very closely with our partners across the globe to address this global issue. But we also need partnership at home. We need partnership from Congress, and we need to focus on what this decades-old issue is. And that issue is making sure that we have comprehensive immigration reform, not focusing on trying to impeach the Homeland Security Secretary. You think about impeachment, impeachment is for misdemeanor, high crimes and misdemeanors, bribery, treason. This is a difference in policy approach, not the best use of our resources, certainly not the best use of the time that Congress has to work with the White House to address this issue.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, so we’re about to face that Republican controlled House. It looks like gridlock, so that doesn’t really get you to a place for bipartisan reform. If we are only left with executive actions, what can President Biden do?
BOTTOMS: Well, Margaret, I want to remind you that in the first two years in office, President Biden has signed over 200 bipartisan bills. So he’s not giving up on working in a bipartisan manner to address immigration, an issue that we should all be concerned about. What we need is funding from Congress, and we need to continue to work toward comprehensive immigration reform. So the President has said he wants to get things done in a bipartisan manner. The manner American people have said they want us to work together in a bipartisan manner. We need everyone at the table with ideas. Remember, Republicans will control the House. So the the need for Republicans in Congress to say what they won’t do has now been removed. Now tell us what you will do to work with the President to make sure that we have comprehensive immigration reform. But in the immediate future, we need funding for the resources that will make sure that we can address the immediate needs on the ground.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Are Democratic leaders telling you you will get the $3.4 billion?
BOTTOMS: Well, we’re gonna keep trying, we’re going to keep pushing. So it’s our hope we’re working daily around the clock with members of Congress to make sure that funding is in place because those resources are needed. And this is, again, not just a Democratic issue. It’s not a Republican issue. This is an issue that impacts us all. Even those of us who don’t live in states that are – that are on the border. You heard Senator Manchin talk about the needs in West Virginia, and how immigration reform is needed in West Virginia, to help with the economy in West Virginia. So we’re gonna keep working around the clock. And simply because people don’t see the president at the border, doesn’t mean that he’s not working.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. But why doesn’t he go to the border? He was just in Arizona, why wasn’t it worth his time?
BOTTOMS: Well, you have to remember, Margaret, when the President travels it is not like you or I jumping on an airplane and getting off and going to our destination, everything comes to a halt. So all of these things are in consideration for the President, is that the best use of resources, all of the resources that will be diverted on the ground when the President makes a visit.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Is that why he didn’t go?
BOTTOMS: Well, I can’t speak to why he has or has not gone – I’m just speaking to the fact that it’s a bit more disruptive for the President of the United States to travel than you or I. But what the President has done is continue to lean in on this immigration issue. It’s something that he ran on, and what we know over the past two years, every single thing that the President has run on, he’s put time and resources into addressing that. So immigration, we know, is a problem that he did not create. Our issues with immigration are decades long issues, and he will continue to lean the end through the White House and through Congress to get comprehensive immigration reform done.
MARGARET BRENNAN: All right. We’ll be watching for that. Keisha Lance Bottoms. Thank you for your time today.
