Joe Biden Confronted by Immigrant Rights Protesters Demanding an End to All Deportations

Joe Biden was confronted by a group of immigrant rights activists outside a campaign event in Las Vegas on February 18.

When asked by a representative from the activist group United We Dream about committing to end all deportations in his first 100 days in office, Biden responded with: “All deportations except for felonies.” He then clarified this to say he meant felonies committed “in the country”.

The United We Dream Group said Biden’s “moderate proposals on immigration” would not “energize the base we need to defeat Trump in November.”

The encounter in Las Vegas came days after Biden told Univision’s Jorge Ramos that it had been “a big mistake” for the Obama administration to deport people without criminal records.

In a statement released by United We Dream after the event, field organizer Karla Aguirre said Biden was “not able to face us” and “ran away” when confronted. She also said his comments fed into a narrative that continues to “criminalize” immigrant communities.

Biden was campaigning in Las Vegas ahead of the Nevada caucus on February 22. In a poll conducted by Mason-Dixon and Telemundo media on February 18, Biden’s approval rating among Latino voters in Nevada was at 34 percent, with Bernie Sanders coming close behind on 31 percent. Credit: United We Dream Action via Storyful