Biden supports vaccines for undocumented immigrants: Psaki

close

Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for April 1

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during Thursday's press briefing that President Biden supports coronavirus vaccines for undocumented immigrants.

"The more people who are vaccinated, whether they’re undocumented or not, the safer we are as a country, and that’s certainly the president’s point of view," Psaki said.

SOME ICE DETAINEES GETTING COVID-19 VACCINE, AGENCY SAYS

Her statement came in response to a question about a push for Florida to waive residency requirements for the vaccine to allow undocumented immigrants to get it.

The issue has continuously made headlines this year. For example, some immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been receiving COVID-19 vaccines. 

Pharmacist Mia Yu removes a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from the refrigerator at a pop up site at Commonpoint Queens The Hub in partnership with the UJA- Federation of New York, Thursday, March 18, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) ((AP Photo/Mary Altaffer))

Meanwhile, Republicans have objected to statements from the Biden administration that it will not bar illegal immigrants from getting the much-sought-after vaccines.

"President Biden’s plan to vaccinate illegal immigrants ahead of Americans who are currently being denied the COVID-19 vaccine is a slap in the face to millions of hard-working families who have been waiting months for the vaccine," House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said in a statement in February.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., accused Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican, of being racist after he said undocumented workers at meatpacking plants would not be included in his state’s vaccine distribution plan. 

"Imagine being so racist that you go out of your way to ensure that the people who prepare *your* food are unvaccinated," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter in January.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"Illegal immigrants are not permitted to work in those facilities, so I don't think that will be a problem," Ricketts responded. 

"Again, you’re supposed to be a legal resident of the country to be able to be working in those plants so I do not expect that illegal immigrants will be part of the vaccine with that program," he continued.

Fox News' Adam Shaw, Morgan Phillips and Sally Persons contributed to this report.