White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rejected an invitation from Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas to visit the border during a Tuesday press briefing after being questioned about the crisis on immigration.
“One thing I — I will say is I certainly don’t need lectures, or invitations from Republicans about the border or border policies,” Jean-Pierre continued. “And, you know — and I certainly won’t take advice on border from — from anyone who voted against securing record level of funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
Jean-Pierre had previously denied that migrants were walking across the border during an Aug. 29 exchange with Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy, despite video evidence contradicting her claim.
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“It’s not like somebody walks over,” Jean-Pierre claimed then.
Cruz then invited Jean-Pierre to see conditions on the border after the Aug, 29 exchange.
“I’ve been to the border. I went in 2018. I stood outside facilities where the Trump Administration was separating families, tearing babies out of their mother’s arms. Some of those kids still haven’t been reunited with their families,” Jean-Pierre said, referring to the Trump administration’s efforts to halt illegal immigration.
Last week, two Border Patrol agents and their union’s president accused the White House press secretary of lying when she claimed that migrants don’t walk “over” the border, they told Daily Caller News Foundation.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last Monday that migrants weren’t walking “over” the border into the U.S. in a tense exchange with Fox News reporter Peter Doocy, who asked why unvaccinated Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic isn’t allowed into the U.S. while unvaccinated migrants can cross the border and enter the country.
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“There are countless videos of illegal border crossings every single day,” National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd said. “There is countless testimony from eyewitnesses about the rampant lawlessness, but when the administration was caught in its hypocrisy for refusing to allow Novak Djokovic into the U.S. legally because of his vaccination status, it allowed the press secretary to lie by stating people aren’t just walking into the U.S.
Two anonymous Border Patrol agents, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly, told the DCNF they also believed Jean-Pierre lied.
Jean-Pierre’s statement is one example of the Biden administration’s “lack of situational awareness of what’s occurring at the southern border,” one Border Patrol agent, who spoke anonymously with the DCNF because they weren’t authorized to speak, said.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas denied in 2021 that there’s a crisis at the border amid a surge in migrant encounters and chose to call the situation a “challenge.”
“The United States’ southern border has been trampled over by illegal aliens for nearly two years,” the agent told the DCNF.
The White House backtracked President Biden’s April 2021 statement to reporters at the Wilmington Country Club that a “crisis” exists at the border with the influx of migrants leaving their home countries for the U.S. However, behind closed doors Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz admitted under oath in a deposition on July 28, 2022 that there is a “crisis” at the border.
“That’s 100% what’s happening! They just walk over the border, get processed and sent on their way to the interior of the country,” a second Border Patrol agent, who was also not authorized to speak, told the DCNF.
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“She [Jean-Pierre] didn’t even answer the question that was asked. She went on to explain there’s a plan in place to help it, but that plan has yet to be laid out to those of us on the front lines,” the agent said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has encountered over 1,900,000 migrants at the southern border since October, according to agency statistics.
Those encounters are a direct result of the border being open, the anonymous Border Patrol agent said.
“The millions that have been encountered, arrested and released did not magically appear at border towns. The equivalency of the border that is located in foreign countries is strictly enforced, by not allowing anyone that is not in possession of proper documentation to fly into the United States,” the first agent said.
“So, yes, illegal aliens are walking across the border,” they added.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Free Press.
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