Advisers to President Biden have reportedly left the administration over his response to the border crisis as some believed he betrayed his values.
Biden struggled to appease both sides of the immigration debate within the White House, those who wanted stricter border security and those who pushed for looser restrictions, according to The New York Times.
In 2021, the president increased the number of Haitians who could remain in the U.S. after fleeing violence. However, the Biden administration also said they would send them back using Title 42 if there was a surge of Haitians, the Times reported, and some believed the president was not living up to his 2020 campaign promises.
"Originally they said, ‘We’re going to get rid of Trump administration stuff,’" Daniel Foote, Biden's former envoy to Haiti who left the administration after the administration sent Haitians back to their country, told the Times. "But then they realized that this is the only way we can keep people out."
"Some advisers who tried to appeal to Mr. Biden’s heart on the issue eventually left the administration, feeling disillusioned. The ones who remained encouraged the president to listen to his head: The situation at the border was getting worse, and more enforcement was needed," the media outlet reported.
Biden and members of Congress have met in the past few weeks to discuss border security legislation which the president wants to tie to aid to Ukraine.
The president touted negotiations in the Senate on Friday after GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson said the bill would be "dead on arrival" in the House.
He said the terms negotiated with senators would be the "toughest and fairest" set of reforms ever to secure the border.
BIDEN CLAIMS 'I'VE DONE ALL I CAN DO' TO SECURE THE BORDER
"It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed," he said. "And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law."
The Biden administration is seeking over $100 billion in funding, including $14 billion for the border. But Republicans have demanded limits on migrant releases into the interior, including the use of parole, and negotiators have been attempting to find a compromise.
Biden claimed on Tuesday that he's done all he can do to secure the border.
Biden made the comment while speaking to reporters as he was leaving the White House. "I've done all I can do, just give me the power," he said.
"I asked them the very day I got into office," Biden continued. "Give me the Border Patrol. Give me the judges. Give me the people who can stop this."
Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report
