During a primary debate in 2019, Joe Biden urged asylum seekers to come to America, while now, with members of his own party charging his policies are overwhelming the immigration system, he’s telling them to stay home.
Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked press secretary Jen Psaki to explain the apparent flip-flop at the White House briefing Monday.
“Sometimes there is language that is used by some that is not including the full context of his comments,” Psaki said, Fox News reported.
“I will say that he still believes that he wants our country to be a place that there is asylum processing at the border. Where people are considered and go through a proper process who are fleeing prosecution, who should be considered for immigration status,” she said.
Psaki blamed Trump for the current surge, charging that the immigraion system “was broken by the last administration,” and Biden wants to fix it with legislation.
It was during a September 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate when Biden said of people struggling with “oppression or poor conditions,” “You should come.”
“They deserve to be heard. That’s who we are,” he said. “We’re a nation that says, ‘You want to flee, and you’re fleeing oppression, you should come.”
Now, with National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd warning that illegal immigration is on a pace to “break all records,” Biden has a different message.
“I can say quite clearly don’t come over. So don’t leave your town or city or community,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview last week. “We’re gonna make sure we have facilities in those cities and towns run by department of — by DHS and also access with HHS, the Health and Human Services, to say you can apply for asylum from where you are right now.”
But he denied the surge is a result of his policies.
“Here’s the deal. They’re not,” he charged, even though some illegal aliens have been wearing “Biden please let us in” T-shirts when they are apprehended.
“We have a chance, you know,” one migrant camp resident told Fox News. “The same environment that’s going on today wasn’t there last year.”
He said he “basically” came because of Biden’s explicit invitation.
Fox News said another migrant said that migrants are tuning out Biden’s newer pleas to stay away, partially because of the dangerous conditions in Central America.
The Biden administration argues there have been previous border crossing “surges.”
“Surges tend to respond to hope, and there was significant hope for a more humane policy after four years of pent-up demand,” Southern Border Coordinator Roberta Jacobson said just days ago.
Joe Biden’s Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, charged that President Trump “dismantled” the facilities and processes to handle illegal aliens. But during Trump’s tenure, his policies drastically reduced the numbers trying to cross the border.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the current problem is because of Biden’s policies and messaging.
“He removes remaining in Mexico policy. He removes the PACR policy. He stops the building of the wall. He questions whether to keep Title 42. That’s why you put your whole family together to make this trek. Because you just listened to what President Biden said. No law has changed by moving of Congress. This entire crisis is created simply by Joe Biden’s actions and words.”
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