President Biden’s policies opening the border to thousands of unvetted illegal aliens doesn’t square with his administration’s consideration of a restriction on travel between states to stem the coronavirus pandemic, argues Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Of course [illegal aliens] are not being screened for COVID at the southern border, because this is all political,” said DeSantis in an interview with Fox News reported by Breitbart.
Biden, he said, is “letting illegals pour in.”
“They’re not doing any COVID tests; they’re just coming into the communities,” said DeSantis. “We have no idea what type of COVID or other things they may be carrying, but yet he wants to potentially make you take a test if you just get on an airplane and fly from one American city to the next. Or he wants to prevent travel to the state of Florida. ”
DeSantis, a rising Republican star regarded as a future presidential candidate, said the situation “stinks to high heaven.”
“It is a huge contradiction, and you can’t square wanting open borders for illegal aliens but then also restricting U.S. citizens from traveling around the country as they see fit, and I think the American people see the hypocrisy in that,” he said.
Biden has ordered a halt to construction of the border wall while ending President Trump’s remain-in-Mexico asylum policy and a series of agreements with Central American nations. It means tens of thousands of people will be released into the U.S. while more than 17 million citizens are unemployed.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki asked last week of the administration was considering travel restrictions on Florida.
“We are always considering what steps are necessary to keep the American people safe,” Psaki said. “But we are not currently in the process of — no decisions have been made around additional public health measures that would delay or would change domestic travel considerations.”
The Miami Herald reported last week the Biden administration is considering whether to impose domestic travel restrictions, including on Florida, “fearful that coronavirus mutations are threatening to reverse hard-fought progress on the pandemic.”
At the time, DeSantis vowed he will “act swiftly” if the Biden administration imposes a travel restriction on his state, which is open for business while maintaining relatively low COVID-19 infection and hospitalization rates.
“The recent report that the Biden administration is considering restricting the travel of Floridians is completely absurd, especially when Biden allows illegal aliens to pour across our southern border,” he said.
“We won’t allow Floridians to be unfairly targeted for political purposes.”
‘Dangerous’ policy
Breitbart noted that the Biden administration requires that all international travelers arriving in the U.S. via plane test negative for the coronavirus. However, there is no such policy for foreign nationals arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.
That policy is “particularly dangerous,” said Yuma County, Arizona, Sheriff Leon Wilmot in a letter to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.
“There is currently no protocol for testing any of these people for the COVID-19 virus nor is there any support being offered by the federal government to house, feed, medically treat or transport these immigrants,” Wilmot wrote.
With the return of the catch-and-release policy, at least 2,000 border crossers were apprehended then released in the first 10 days of February. The border crossers are given a notice to appear in court or are paroled, which allows them to apply for work permits.
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