Biden Downplays Number of Migrant Crossings in First Press Conference
U.S. President Joe Biden talks to reporters during the first news conference of his presidency in the East Room of the White House on March 25, 2021 in Washington, DC. On the 64th day of his administration, Biden, 78, faced questions about the coronavirus pandemic, immigration, gun control and other subjects. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

U.S. President Joe Biden, in his first press conference, Thursday, has tried to minimize the current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border when he said that "nothing has changed" when it comes to the number of unaccompanied children coming to the United States.

Border Patrol agents have arrested about 100,000 migrants last month at the U.S.-Mexico border, which was an increase of 26 percent from January and 170 percent from a year ago, according to a Breitbart News report.

Biden has reversed certain Trump-era immigration policies such as the "Remain in Mexico" program and was trying to create a way for citizenship for undocumented immigrants and fast-track citizenship for farmworkers.

On the other hand, former U.S. President Donald Trump has restrictive immigration policies such as the building of the wall on the southern border to stop immigrants from illegally entering the U.S.

Meanwhile, Biden retains his stand of believing that the situation at the border has not changed, saying "As many people came - 28% increase in children to the border in my administration; 31% in the last year in 2019, before the pandemic - in the Trump administration," as quoted by an Associated Press report.

Statistics from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection beg to differ, claiming that they encountered 9,457 unaccompanied migrant children in February, which is a 61 percent increase from January, not 28 percent.

Migrant Influx

One illegal immigrant in Tucson, Arizona said that he recently crossed the southern U.S. border due to Biden being the president and not Trump.

The migrant said that he would definitely not cross the border if Trump were the president, according to The Federalist report.

The migrant said that one of the main reasons of his illegal crossing was the violence in their country, adding that the second thing was Biden.

Biden said that he would not apologize for undoing immigration policies imposed by the former president, saying that it undermined "human dignity."

He also noted that the U.S. was expelling the huge majority of migrants, which includes families due to a COVID-19 public health order.

"I make no apologies for ending programs that did not exist before Trump became president that have an incredibly negative impact on the law," he was quoted in a West Central Tribune report.

Meanwhile, some Democrats have scrutinized the conditions of the migrant facilities where the minors are being used, clamoring for a faster release of the children to relatives or sponsors.

Republicans say the president encouraged migrants to cross illegally when he scraped some of Trump's immigration policies.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted that people listen when politicians spend a two-year campaign calling for a "porous border" and "amnesty."

Border Protection released data stating that on Mar. 17 only 15 percent of family members caught were expelled.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that the United States is currently working with Mexico to increase its capacity to receive expelled families.

WATCH: Biden discusses how the U.S. is addressing migrant children at the border - from PBS NewsHour