On Tuesday, President Joe Biden advised migrants “don’t come over” after his sweeping immigration policies fueled a sudden surge of illegal aliens who are seeking asylum in the U.S.
In an exclusive interview with George Stephanopoulus, Biden finally put his foot down against illegal migrants. “Do you have to say quite clearly, ‘Don’t come’?” the ABC host asked.
Biden responded, “Yes, I can say quite clearly: Don’t come over.” He added, “Don’t leave your town or city or community.” The President gave out a stern comment following increasing reports of unaccompanied teens and children who made the dangerous border crossing.
The ABC host pointedly asked, “Was it a mistake not to anticipate this surge?” Biden immediately defended his immigration policies saying that there had already been an increase in the number of illegal migration since 2019.
“This one might be worse,” Stephanopoulos said and the President agreed, “Well, it could be.”
Biden also clarified assumptions that he was a “nice guy”. The President said, “The idea that Joe Biden said, ‘Come’ — because I heard the other day that they’re coming because they know I’m a nice guy.” He continued, “Here’s the deal, they’re not.”
The President also assured that the administration is taking the necessary steps to stop the sudden surge of migration. Biden noted that they are in the process of “sending back” individuals who entered the U.S. illegally.
The problem is that there are more people seeking asylum in the U.S. than federal agencies can handle. In a statement, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted that his agency is currently having difficulties in handling the sudden border surge.
Mayorkas claimed that the DHS is “on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years.” He added that on top of the sudden uptick in border crossing, the DHS also has to deal with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
On the other hand, Republicans are also quick to blame Biden’s policies for leading the country into a possible immigration crisis. In fact, political experts feared that the increasing pressure from radical Democrats such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar to pursue a more lax immigration policy might do more harm than good.
According to associate professor of the Department of Political Science at the University of Utah, James Curry, the only way to solve the immigration surge is to pass bipartisan legislation. Curry said, “a bipartisan immigration deal is going to need to be passed as a large package that includes some of the things that Democrats want and other things that Republicans want.”
Since day one, Biden is set to overhaul former President Donald Trump’s highly-criticized immigration policies. In fact, during his Inauguration Day, the President immediately declared that the government will grant citizenship to anyone who can prove that they are in the United States on January 1. In addition, he enacted an eight-year citizenship path for migrants.
