Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told CBS News immigration is an issue the country has “punted on for a very long time” amid the nation’s heated debate over federal enforcement.
While he has publicly condemned the Trump administration’s immigration policies as a “cruel and reckless political agenda,” he told CBS News senior correspondent Norah O’Donnell that former President Joe Biden “did not have this right.”
“We needed to do more. That, I don’t think anyone can argue that we had the system worked out under President Biden – that immigration was worked out,” he said during a town hall, airing Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, right after 60 Minutes.
During the Biden administration, the southern border saw record numbers of migrant apprehensions by Border Patrol, as officials grappled with a humanitarian, political and operational crisis. At points during Biden’s tenure, the agency recorded thousands of apprehensions per day, with totals climbing to around 10,000 on peak days in late 2023.
That’s why Mr. Trump made immigration a central part of his 2024 presidential campaign, pledging a sweeping overhaul of U.S. immigration policy and the largest deportation in the nation’s history. The tally of unlawful crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2025 dropped to the lowest annual level in more than five decades, CBS News reported in October.
While voters ranked immigration among their top issues in 2024, support for the Trump administration’s deportation efforts has started to decline and recent polls show more Americans view ICE’s operations as “too tough.” An internal Department of Homeland Security document obtained by CBS News shows less than 14% of those arrested by ICE in Trump’s first year back in office had violent criminal records.
Moore said he would argue that no administration has ever fully figured out an effective system, and that only Congress can fix it.
“And this is the frustrating thing for me with this Congress right now, where I feel we are just watching a continued abdication of responsibility,” he said.
With Republicans controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, Moore suggested that Trump could have a comprehensive immigration reform bill “on his desk next week” if he pushed for it. “Because they have the votes. And that’s not happening,” he said.
Watch CBS News Things That Matter: A Town Hall with Governor Wes Moore, moderated by Norah O’Donnell on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/PT, right after 60 Minutes on CBS.
