President Joe Biden on Monday marked Cinco de Mayo at the White House, hosting a reception in the Rose Garden in which he reiterated his recent assertion that immigration is the reason for what he deemed as the United States’ economic success.
“The reason why we’re the fastest growing country in the world, why we’re the best economy in the world is because of immigration,” Biden said at Monday’s event, which took place on May 6 rather than the fifth. “That's not hyperbole.”
The comment echoed one he made last week during a donor reception for his 2024 reelection bid that also marked the start of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
At that event, Biden added that the reason China, Japan, Russia and India are not doing as well economically is because “they're xenophobic” and “don’t want immigrants.” The remark drew pushback from Japan, one of America’s closest allies in the Indo-Pacific, and India.
The president also touched on student debt relief and health care during Monday’s event that saw drinks, hors d'oeuvres and, at one point, chants of "Four more years" flow through the Rose Garden.
Biden on Monday sought to highlight his administration’s announcement last week that hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children will be able to apply for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges.
The action will allow participants in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, to access government-funded health insurance programs.
The president on Monday also called on Congress to do more to protect those in the program, calling them “model citizens.”
Biden also criticized his predecessor and likely 2024 rival, former President Donald Trump, who said in an interview released last week that he would not have a problem with using the military to deport millions of migrants in America if he is elected.
Earlier this year, a border policy deal that a bipartisan group of senators spent weeks negotiating with the White House – initially at the request of the GOP – appeared to die after some Republicans, including Trump, came out in opposition of the agreement. Biden has consistently rebuked Republicans for the deal’s apparent death.
Biden on Monday was introduced by the Miami Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr., a California native and a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico.
“I stand here before you on the shoulders of giants … generations of proud and incredibly accomplished Mexican Americans who came before me,” he said.
This year, an estimated more than 36 million Latino voters will be eligible to cast a ballot in the general election, according to the Pew Research Center, an increase of nearly 4 million since 2020.
The growing bloc of Latino voters could prove critical this November in a few swing states, particularly amid recent polls and data from recent election cycles showing Hispanic voters, who have historically backed Democratic candidates, may be increasingly more open to the GOP’s message.
While statistics from the most recent elections show Democrats still have a firm grip when it comes to the support of Latino voters, the margin by which Democrats have won among such communities has shrunk.
In 2020, former President Donald Trump – who, along with Biden already received enough delegates to earn his party’s nomination for president – got the support of 38% of Latino voters to Biden’s 59%, according to the Pew Research Center. By contrast, Hillary Clinton won Latino voters 66% over Trump (28%) in 2016.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.