In September 2007, then-U.S. Sen. Joe Biden said he would not allow sanctuary cities to exist by ignoring federal law.
On Jan. 24, 2024, X (formerly Twitter) account @mazemoore posted a video that claimed to be from a 2007 debate between Democratic candidates for U.S. president in which then-U.S. Sen. Joe Biden said he would not allow sanctuary cities to exist by ignoring federal law.
The post has received more than 3.2 million views and 37,000 likes as of this writing. Commenters pointed out the stark difference in Biden’s current approach to immigration policy and his stance in 2007, with one user writing: “It seems the line between political pragmatism and flip-flopping is as thin as the border itself, reflecting the changing tides of public opinion rather than steadfast policy.”
MUST SEE CLIP. In 2007 Biden was asked if he would allow sanctuary cities to exist. His answer was NO. He said that sanctuary cities turn into dumps and the only reason they exist is because the Federal government doesn’t enforce the law.
2020 Biden – Illegals make cities safer… pic.twitter.com/5GiS7WtS8I
— MAZE (@mazemoore) January 25, 2024
The video clip is real, and so we rate this claim as “Correct Attribution.” The footage was recorded at the Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate (Biden’s portion begins at 32:46) on Sept. 26, 2007, at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The debate was hosted by Tim Russert and aired live on MSNBC.
The question, asked by a member of the audience, was originally posed to then-New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as follows:
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, sanctuary “cities, counties, and states have laws, ordinances, regulations, resolutions, policies, or other practices that obstruct immigration enforcement and shield criminals from ICE — either by refusing to or prohibiting agencies from complying with ICE detainers, imposing unreasonable conditions on detainer acceptance, denying ICE access to interview incarcerated aliens, or otherwise impeding communication or information exchanges between their personnel and federal immigration officers.”
After Richardson’s response at the 2007 debate, the audience member asked the same of Biden. His answer is as follows, with the audience member in italics:
The previous month, on Aug. 7, 2007, Biden said that “no great nation” can have uncontrolled borders and proposed increased security along the U.S.-Mexico border, including a partial border fence and more Border Patrol agents, as we recently reported.
The tweet that shared the viral video characterized Biden’s recent immigration stance as one that does not support any arrests or deportations by ICE. Speaking about the U.S.-Mexico border at a news conference in January 2023, Biden said that he aimed to crack down on illegal immigration, strengthen legal immigration, and protect DREAMers.