WATCH: Biden calls on Congress to reform immigration policies | 2023 State of the Union

President Joe Biden urged bipartisan action on immigration reform in his second State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

Biden said that although the administration has increased the number of officers working at the U.S. southern border and has “launched a new border plan,” legislative solutions are needed to address “American border problems.”

He asked Congress to provide “equipment and officers to secure the border,” as well as create a pathway to citizenship for many immigrants, including the Dreamers. “It’s our duty to protect all the people’s rights and freedoms,” Biden said.

Biden’s Feb. 7 address comes a year after Russia invaded Ukraine and amid new diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and China over a suspected surveillance balloon. This is Biden’s second State of the Union address, as his first was a joint address to Congress in April 2021.

Last year, Biden used his address to emphasize themes of bipartisanship and unity. But he now faces a split Congress, with the GOP-led House launching efforts to investigate his family and his administration.

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