Joe Biden is confronted over deportation record by immigrant rights protesters outside Las Vegas event – as campaign stresses he’ll perform better in more diverse states
- Vice President Joe Biden was screamed at by a bunch of undocumented immigrant women asking him to commit to halting deportations
- The confrontation happened as Biden was taking photos with the overflow crowd outside a Chinese restaurant in Las Vegas’ Chinatown neighborhood
- About 10 women from United We Dream Action arrived with a banner that said ‘Biden Commit 2 Stop All Deportations’
- Biden went back inside the restaurant to engage with more voters as the women continued to chant and tell their stories to press
Former Vice President Joe Biden was confronted by a group of chanting immigrant rights protesters outside a campaign event Tuesday night in Las Vegas’ Chinatown.
Biden had headlined an event tailored to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at Harbor Palace Seafood Restaurant, but as he walked outside to take pictures with the crowd that had gathered he was approached by a group of undocumented activists, shaming him for not committing to halt deportations.
About 10 women from the group United We Dream Action yelled and scream-talked in the direction of Biden and held up a banner that read ‘Biden Commit 2 Stop All Deportations.’
Vice President Joe Biden had appeared at an event in Las Vegas’ Chinatown specifically tailored to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community
But outside he was greeted by screaming immigrant rights activists, who wanted the former vice president to commit to stopping deportations if he’s elected president
‘We are here just to ask Joe Biden to give us a strong commitment to stopping all deportations,’ said Carla, an undocumented immigrant from Charleston, South Carolina who declined to give DailyMail.com her last name.
Carla explained that the former vice president hasn’t committed fully to stopping deportations. ‘His constant answer is I will, but if people have criminal backgrounds they will be deported.’ She explained that Biden’s answer hasn’t been good enough because the Trump administration has defined law-breaking undocumented immigrants to ‘anyone and anything.’
Joe Biden had attracted a line of fans outside the campaign stop – and they chanted in support of the ex-veep once the protesters arrived
The protesters chants were met with more chants, this from the line of Biden supporters who had hoped to get pictures with the former veep and 2020 presidential hopeful.
But the ruckus had prompted Biden to head back inside – to take more pictures with potential supporters from the Asian-American community.
Ironically, Biden’s entire speech Tuesday was dedicated to increasing immigration flows, as he called President Trump’s attitude clamping down on the numbers of immigrants ‘absolutely bizarre.’
He talked of his family’s own immigrant story, hinting that he thought his grandfather had come to the United States from Ireland ‘illegally.’
‘The people who come are people who are resilient,’ he said of the American melting pot.
He also used a fresh applause line against President Trump. ‘He is a pre-existing condition we’ve got to take care of,’ Biden told the crowd.
But for the protesters, American immigration policy was problematic pre-Trump, as Carla talked of the family separations that happened ‘during the Obama-Biden administration.’
She explained that they’ve put every Democratic candidate on notice, but Biden has specifically been targeted before, including in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses.
‘We are hoping for the best. Our communities are at risk, our lives are at risk everyday. So we’re asking for that commitment from all the candidates to stopping all deportations,’ Carla told DailyMail.com.
Biden is looking to the next two states to vote – Nevada and South Carolina – to provide him with a rebound after coming in a disappointing fourth and fifth place, respectively, in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Biden and his surrogates have argued that President Obama’s vice president will perform better when the electorates are diverse.
In Nevada, 19 per cent of Democrats who caucused for candidates in 2019 were Hispanic, while another 13 per cent were black.
In South Carolina, the black vote made up 61 per cent of Democratic primary voters, according to 2016 exit polls.
Early voting in Nevada wrapped up Tuesday night and caucuses will be held Saturday. A week after that is South Carolina’s primary.