Biden White House Spars with John Oliver Over Trump-Era Immigration Policy

President Joe Biden’s White House pushed back at HBO host John Oliver’s claim that the administration is hypocritically ‘advocating’ to continue a Trump-era immigration policy.

The comedian and political fun-dit spoke to Politico’s West Wing Playbook on the eve of the first 2022 episode of his show Last Week Tonight and had some sharp words of criticism for Biden to mix in with his slams of former President Donald Trump.

While he contrasted Biden’s presidency positively with the chaotic Trump years, Oliver expressed disappointment at the scale of change that Biden has sought, and the limits on Biden’s success to this point.

One point of contention that drew a response from the White House was Oliver’s criticism of the administration for continuing Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy:

“Obviously, you’re going to get the worst case scenario of an immigration policy from a Trump administration, it’s going to be idiotic policies built on malice,” he continued. “With a Biden administration, it’s a bit more interesting because you have a public face of compassion, and campaign promises — pretty specifically on ‘Remain in Mexico’ — yet advocating for that policy to remain. That is much more interesting than a cartoon villain engaging in cartoon villainy.”

That policy was reversed by President Biden as soon as he took office, but was reinstated late last year because of a federal judge’s order forcing them to do so.

A White House spokesperson pointed out those facts to Politico, and said that far from “advocating,” the administration is still working to end the policy:

“The Department of Homeland Security ended enrolling individuals in it on the first day of the administration, and terminated the program in July 2021,” the spokesperson said. “As a result of a court order the Administration has been required to re-implement the program. It is not a policy that President Biden agrees with. Secretary Mayorkas issued an additional termination memo and the federal government continues to appeal the ruling.”

The president was asked about the policy during a CNN town hall last year. Asked “why did your stance on allowing immigrants suddenly revert to Trump-era policies?”, Biden explained that “the Remain in Mexico policy, which I oppose, the Court said I had to maintain it. So, we’re repealing it. That’s one of the reasons why we haven’t changed it.”