Biden gets pressed on Obama era record deportations
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Univision's Jorge Ramos pressed Vice President Joe Biden on the record number of deportations during the Obama administration, with the former vice president saying "things have changed" since he was in the White House.
Why it matters: Under the Obama administration, Immigration and Custom Enforcement deportations topped 385,000 each year in fiscal years 2009-2011, and hit a high of 409,849 in fiscal 2012. The Trump administration deportations have yet to hit that level. Biden tried to deflect the record with other programs Obama put in place to serve Latino immigrants.
The exchange:
RAMOS: "Why should Latinos trust you?"
BIDEN: "This is a president who came along with the DACA program, no one had done that. Sent legislation to the desk, a pathway for the 11 million undocumented in America. This is a president that's done a great deal. I'm proud to have served with him. What I would do as president is several more things, because things have changed. I would, in fact, make sure that there is, we immediately surge to the border, all those people who are seeking asylum. They deserve to be heard."
RAMOS: "You didn't answer the question."
BIDEN: "Well, I did answer the question."
RAMOS: "Did you make a mistake with those deportations?"
BIDEN: "[Obama] did the best thing that was able to be done.
RAMOS: "How about you?"
BIDEN: "I'm the vice president of the United States."
Democratic candidate Julián Castro took Biden's punt to jab at the former vice president, saying Biden only takes credit for Obama's works when they are positive, but does not want anything to do with it when it's negative.
Biden responded, "I stand with Barack Obama all 8 years. Good, bad and indifferent. That's where I stand. I did not say I did not stand with him."
Go deeper: Debate preview: Biden vs. Warren
