Biden decries ‘violence’ against immigrants in St Patrick’s Day speech: 'That's not who America is'

BOSTON, MA: During a surprise appearance at a St Patrick's Day breakfast event in Boston, former President Joe Biden gave an unannounced but strong speech about immigration and democracy. He used the holiday to underscore the issues prevailing in the country right now.

Biden reportedly got a standing ovation when he took the stage at the Irish American Partnership breakfast. He then gave a speech rooted on his Irish heritage but centered around contemporary circumstances. 

A message framed by history and warning

During his surprise appearance at the Irish American Partnership’s annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast, the former president contrasted his ancestors’ escape from Ireland’s Great Famine to the current state of immigration enforcement in the US, The Boston Globe reported.

“Let’s not lose sight of the bonds we share with today’s immigrants, families who are enduring fear and violence at the hands of our government,” Biden said, according to the Globe.

“That’s not who we are. That’s not who America is.”

Biden spoke up after the Trump administration ramped up immigration enforcement in states like Minnesota, California, Illinois, and Maine. Democrats running those states, and many in Congress, were pretty vocal in their opposition.

Right now, Senate Democrats and Republicans are locked in a fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

A rare and symbolic appearance

Biden’s appearance was not on the official schedule, adding to the sense of significance surrounding the speech.

He warned against what he described as the mistreatment and demonization of immigrant communities, suggesting the country risks forgetting its own origins.

Biden also spoke about his legacy and how he will be perceived.

“Whatever my legacy may be, I hope it will be said that I have never stopped striving for a cause of democracy… History says there’s no hope on this side of the grave,” he said.

“But then, once in a lifetime, a long forward tidal wave of justice can rise up and hope and history can rhyme… we believe in our democracy. We know it’s worth fighting for,” the former president added.

Biden leaned heavily on Irish history and poetry, quoting famous line about a “tidal wave of justice” when “hope and history rhyme,” tying it to what he described as a critical moment for American democracy.

Similar to other former presidents, Biden has kept a relatively low profile since leaving the Oval Office, occasionally taking to social media to speak out against President Trump’s policies. 

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D), who is also of Irish descent, supported Biden’s sentiment in her remarks at the Tuesday breakfast. “We see immigrants being demonized, intimidated, and in many cases being treated so, so unjustly, and in ways that are truly un-American,” she said.