- FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE - Joseph Klein - MAY 9, 2023 -
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has outdone herself with a preposterous whopper regarding the consequences of the Biden administration’s disastrous immigration policies. On May 1st during her regular press briefing, she credited President Biden’s “actions” with bringing down illegal immigration “by more than 90 percent.”
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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has outdone herself with a preposterous whopper regarding the consequences of the Biden administration’s disastrous immigration policies. On May 1st during her regular press briefing, she credited President Biden’s “actions” with bringing down illegal immigration “by more than 90 percent.”
Of course, the precise opposite is the case. On the very same day the White House press secretary made her outrageous claim, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz reported that in the previous 72 hours alone there were 22,220 apprehensions. These included one convicted murderer, two sex offenders, and one gang member. Two agents were assaulted.
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Statistics published by the U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show that CBP apprehended illegal migrants crossing into the country a record 2,378,944 times in fiscal year 2022. This figure represents a more than 30 percent jump from the 1,734,686 apprehensions for fiscal year 2021. The situation is getting worse for fiscal year 2023. And law enforcement authorities are bracing for the expected surge of hundreds of thousands more illegal immigrants waiting for the Title 42 health emergency order to expire on May 11th before trying to enter the country.
Add to these totals the 1.2 million illegal migrants who eluded authorities altogether after crossing the border since President Biden took office, as reported by Fox News in January 2023 based on CBP sources. More than three months since that report, the number of such “gotaways” has surely climbed considerably.
None of the White House correspondents saw fit to immediately challenge Ms. Jean-Pierre on her appalling lie that President Biden’s actions have brought illegal immigration down “by more than 90 percent.” When Peter Doocy from Fox News did question the White House spinner-in-chief about her claim the next day, Ms. Jean-Pierre got snarky at first. After telling Mr. Doocy to bring down “the dramatics,” Ms. Jean-Pierre tried to worm her way out of the embarrassing spot she had put herself in. Her tactic was to put the onus on Mr. Doocy for not understanding what she really meant.
Ms. Jean-Pierre said her 90 percent figure referred to the far lower number of illegal immigrants coming from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Cuba following the Biden administration’s announcement of a “parolee” program specifically applying to these four countries.
This program permits up to 30,000 people per month, who supposedly have an eligible sponsor and presumably pass vetting checks, to come to the United States for a period of two years and receive work authorization. The way the program is supposed to work is for migrants from these countries to make appointments through a mobile application known as CBP One before entering the country. Those who do not follow this process and try to enter the country illegally are subject to expulsion.
“So I was speaking to the parolee program,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said. “As you know, the President put in place a parolee program to deal with — to deal with certain countries on — on ways that we can limit illegal migration. And we have seen — the data has shown us that it has gone down by more than 90 percent. That was what I was speaking to.”
Even Press Secretary Jean-Pierre’s lame attempt to clean up what she had said on May 1st is misleading because she left out some key facts. No wonder the White House mouthpiece cut Peter Doocy off when he tried to ask a follow-up question.
Bill Melugin, a Fox News correspondent with plenty of experience reporting extensively from the U.S. Southwest Border, wrote a tweet that fills in the blanks:
“There was a window of time earlier this year where encounters with Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Cubans did temporarily dip 90% after a policy change, but other countries, like China, shot up over 800%. Illegal crossings, including Venezuelans, back at peak highs now.”
Moreover, it turns out that “Venezuelan border crossers have been living for years, safely, happily and prosperously in other countries” according to Todd Bensman, the author of “Overrun: How Joe Biden Unleashed the Greatest Border Crisis in U.S. History.” Mr. Bensman personally met and spoke with Venezuelans who have lived safely for years in such countries. Yet, with the intention to make bogus asylum claims, they are seeking to enter the U.S. for even better economic opportunities, not to escape persecution.