Biden Says Some of His Ancestors Came to the U.S. Illegally

Urged Boehner to allow vote on immigration reform

Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that some of his ancestors came to the United States illegally and said it's fruitless to compare the immigration system of the 1800s to today's.

"My great-great-grandparents came escaping the famine, and they didn't all come here legally," Biden said in response to a questioner who said her family came to the country legally from Ireland in the 1800s. "They didn't all come legally. And the existence of the system isn't all truncated like it is now. I'd check your ancestry to make sure that they did come legally if that's a concern to you."