House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
“When I talked to doctors to find out when they were tested, (doctors said) more than 10 percent tested positive when they were released,” McCarthy said, “At a Time when the president is keeping our country in lockdown, when we look forward to maybe the Fourth of July, when we can be reunited with our families together, how much of the spread of COVID is he creating at the border every day through his policies?”
Brownsville (Texas) Mayor Trey Mendez told reporters in a conference call Monday that 7.3 percent of illegal immigrants arriving in the city tested positive for COVID-19.
The Republican leader also criticized Biden‘s immigration policies, particularly the reversal of Trump-era policies through executive orders.
“That’s why (Biden) should talk to border agents and let him know that this is no longer just a crisis,” McCarthy said, “He can continue to deny it, but the only way to fix it is to first acknowledge what he’s done, and if he’s not willing to reverse the policy, then Congress has to take action to fix it.”
McCarthy said he sent a letter to President Biden hoping to meet with him to discuss the crisis at the southern border, specifically about his administration’s message to immigrants.
Opponents of Biden’s lax immigration policies say they are fueling a surge in immigration at the border. The number of people crossing the border illegally rose to more than 100,000 in February, according to official figures. In addition, another 26,000 people have evaded apprehension, according to provisional Customs and Border Protection data reviewed by former Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Captain Jaeson Jones.
The Biden Administration recently admitted, reluctantly, that a border crisis does exist.
When pressed by reporters on why illegal immigrants are not required to have a negative test report to enter the country like anyone else who enters legally, White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the administration’s policy and said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) could test and quarantine them more if he authorized it.
“Governor Abbott has called what’s happening at the border … an open border policy. That is absolutely not true,” Psaki said at a March 11 White House press briefing, “The border is not open. The vast majority of people who are apprehended or met at the border are likewise denied entry and deported.”
Addressing the issue of testing illegal immigrants at the border, Psaki said, “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have stepped in and are working with local mayors, NGOs and public health officials in Texas to implement a system to provide COVID-19 testing and to quarantine and isolate families as needed. then released from Border Patrol facilities.”
She added, “Their proposal and agreement would have covered 100 percent of the cost of testing isolation and quarantine, but Governor Abbott decided to reject that one to help.”
Texas Gov. Abbott’s press secretary, Renae Eze, hinted that the federal funds mentioned by Psaki had “strings attached.
“The Biden administration continues to pressure Texas to assist with their illegal immigration program,” Eze said in a statement, “and we are focused on doing our job: protecting Texans.”
“Strictly speaking, border security is the responsibility of the federal government. Only the federal government has an obligation to test, screen and segregate illegal immigrants who cross our borders and may have COVID,” Republican Gov. Abbott said in a statement, adding, “The Biden administration is not doing their job and claiming they don’t have enough resources. Notably, they asked Texas to assist with their illegal immigration program, and Texas refused.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) file photo. (Lynda M. Gonzalez-Pool/Getty Images)
In a March 4 interview with CNBC, Abbott said, “The Biden administration has been releasing illegal immigrants in south Texas, putting people at risk of contracting COVID.”
According to a Just the News/Rasmussen poll released Monday, 90 percent of Americans believe that illegal immigrants should be tested for the virus before being released into the country.
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