On Monday afternoon, White House press secretary Sean Spicer held his first real press briefing, where he took questions from reporters. (During Saturday’s disaster, he didn’t take questions.) Responses surrounding border security, immigration (particularly the DACA program), NAFTA, the lack of a Spanish web site, Latinos and Spicer mispronouncing Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto’s last name (Peña Nieta) all happened. In the interest of informing our community, we clipped almost all the answers and created a few videos of them for you. Think of it as a condensed press briefing of all things U.S. Latino.
First up, Spicer addressed the border wall near the start of the briefing. He did not say that “Mexico was going to pay for it.” Instead, he said that President Donald Trump is “doing everything he can” for Congress and federal agencies “to commence work on [the wall] as soon as possible.”
The following longer video of several clips contains moments where Spicer essentially didn’t give a direct answer about the fate of DACA, which many in the immigrant rights community still think will get repealed. The video also has Spicer commenting about no Spanish web pages on the White House’s official site for now, NAFTA, Latin America, whether Trump is going to keep his Day One promises (like deporting millions) and yes, a possible meeting with Enrique Peña Nieta (it’s Nieto, even though this time around, Spicer did refer to Peña Nieta as the president of Mexico and not its foreign minister, like he did over the weekend).
Here is part of what Spicer said regarding DACA and whether or not the White House will repeal it this week with an executive action:
“The President has been clear that he was going to prioritize the areas of dealing with the immigration system, both building the wall and making sure that we address people who are in this country illegally. First and foremost, the President has been very, very clear that we need to direct agencies to focus on those who are in this country illegally and have a criminal record or pose a threat to the American people. That’s where the priority is going to be and then we’re going to continue to work through the entire number of folks who are here illegally, but right not the clear focus is on that.”
Finally, this edited clip continues with another Spicer answer on immigration plus a question about what Trump’s relationship with Latinos will be like, because you know, the wall and immigration.
Here is what Spicer said about Trump and Latinos:
Well, I think his relationship with the Hispanic community is going to be great. I think he’s, as I said, I think that whether its jobs or education or healthcare, the president is committed to uniting all Americans and working towards a better, safer, more secure, more prosperous America that benefits everybody. And I think whether, regardless of your background, that’s something that he is committed to.
As for all you who just wanted to see Spicer mispronounce Peña Nieto’s last name, here is that clip:
