FLASHBACK: Obama said in 2014 crime and poverty not enough for asylum claim

President Barack Obama said in 2014 that seeking asylum in the United States was "narrowly defined," and likely wouldn't apply to most people seeking asylum at the southern border. He said in a press conference, "Under U.S. law, we admit a certain number of refugees from all around the world based on some pretty narrow criteria. Typically, refugee status is not granted just based on economic need or because a family lives in a bad neighborhood or poverty. It's typically defined, fairly narrowly. You have a state, for example, that was targeting a political activist and they need to get out of the country for fear of prosecution or even death."

Obama's interpretation of U.S. immigration and asylum law contradicts the feelings of many current Democratic lawmakers who have called for the decriminalization of unauthorized border crossings, the closing of migrant detention centers, and the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Obama further stated of the migrants at the southern border, "There may be some narrow circumstances in which there is a humanitarian or refugee status that a family might be eligible for. If that were the case, it would be better for them to apply in-country, rather than take a very dangerous journey all the way up to Texas to make those same claims. But, I think it's important to recognize that would not necessarily accommodate a large number of additional migrants."

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