Biden: 9 key phrases from the first press conference

"Increase in migrants happens every year" 7:14

(CNN) -

In his first official press conference since taking office, President Joe Biden spent more than an hour Thursday answering questions from journalists on topics ranging from immigration to vaccination against Covid-19.

Two of the topics that the press and Biden did not delve into were the variants of coronavirus and gun control, which gained more importance in the last two weeks after the mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colorado.

Here are some of the most important quotes on the topics that Biden did discuss:

Biden's stance on immigration

Biden said the surge in migrants at the southern border of the United States is unprecedented.

"The truth of the matter is that nothing has changed ... As many people came, there was a 28% increase in children at the border in my administration, 31% in the last year in 2019 before the pandemic in the Trump administration .

It happens every year, ”he said.

Biden explained that he wants to rebuild the immigration system and that the United States is sending back the "vast majority" of families who make it to the border.

Unaccompanied minors at the border

“The idea that I'm going to say, which I would never do, that if an unaccompanied child ends up at the border we are going to let him starve and stay on the other side, neither did any previous administration except Trump.

I'm not going to do it.

I'm not going to do it, ”Biden said.

The conditions of a border protection facility in Texas

“We are going to get 1,000 of those children out quickly.

That's why I got Fort Bliss opened.

That is why I have been working from the moment this started to happen to try to find additional access so that children can be safe, not just children, but in particular children can be safely housed while we continue with the rest. of what's going on, ”Biden said.

The president called conditions "totally unacceptable" in crowded migrant facilities like the one in Donna, Texas, which houses immigrant children.

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A delegation of White House officials and lawmakers visited an influx facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, designed to house unaccompanied minors crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and, for the first time, allowed independent media access.

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Carrizo Springs, Texas Department of Health and Human Services Facility: Images taken from a video from inside the Carrizo Springs facility taken by a reporter.

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This facility and other shelters overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services are equipped to provide medical services, dormitories, and other support, while case managers work with children to match them with a sponsor, such as a parent or family member. , in United States.

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Facility of the Department of Health and Human Services in Carrizo Springs, Texas.

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But amid covid-19 limitations, there has not been enough shelter space to house the growing number of arrivals, resulting in minors staying at Border Patrol facilities for extended periods beyond the legal limit of 72 hours.

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Conditions at Border Patrol facilities, where the media have not been allowed in, can be described as prisons and are not intended for minors

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The temporary processing facility in Donna, Texas, on February 25, 2021, built to process family units and Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) found and in the custody of the United States Border Patrol.

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After a congressman posted photos of a Border Patrol overflow facility in Donna, Texas, earlier this week, the administration released images and photographs from the space.

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Border Patrol facility in Donna, Texas.

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Border Patrol facility in Donna, Texas.

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Border Patrol facility in Donna, Texas.

Biden's goal on covid-19 vaccination

Biden formally said that his government has a new goal: to get 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccines applied in the first 100 days of the term.

I know it is ambitious.

It is twice our original goal.

But no other country in the world has come close to what we are doing.

I think we can do it, ”Biden said.

Reopening of schools in the country

Biden cited a report this week from the Department of Education showing that nearly half of schools are open, a step toward his goal of having most schools fully open in their first 100 days.

"We are very close and I believe that in the remaining 35 days we will also meet that goal," he said.

Stimulus payments

“As of yesterday, more than 100 million payments of US $ 1,400 had gone to people's bank accounts.

That's real money in people's pockets giving them almost instant relief.

And millions more will get their money very soon, "said Biden.

The government announced Wednesday that, under the American Rescue Plan, about 127 million stimulus payments worth about $ 325 billion have already been sent to Americans.

Stimulus checks: what should I do with that money?

7:09

Biden's plan on infrastructure

Biden said he hopes to announce his next big initiative in Pittsburgh that will aim to rebuild the "physical and technological infrastructure of this country so that we can compete and create a significant number of really high paying jobs."

The White House confirmed that Biden will travel to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, March 31.

Right to vote

Biden called Republican efforts to restrict the vote in many states "un-American" and "sick," and compared these attempts to Jim Crow laws that imposed racial segregation in the South.

"What worries me is how anti-American this whole initiative is," Biden said of Republican efforts at the state level to implement rules that would make voting more cumbersome for many voters, especially minority voters.

Filibuster reform

Biden expressed his support for a reform of filibusterism (a legal procedure that allows to obstruct the progress of projects in Congress).

The president suggested he was willing to loosen or even abolish the archaic Senate rule on certain issues to meet his agenda.

He first said that he believed senators should have to be in their turn to speak to delay action in the Senate.

Filibustering is being "grossly abused," added Biden.

Biden on reelection in 2024

Yes, my plan is to run for reelection.

That is my expectation, "he said.

Immigration