WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden declared the US immigration system to be broken Thursday as he unveiled a plan to ease pressure at the crowded border with Mexico.

"I sent Congress a comprehensive piece of legislation that would completely overhaul what has been a broken immigration system for a long time," Biden said in an address from the White House.

Biden also insisted the new strategy would be what he called orderly. "It's safe and it's humane, and it works."