Psaki says majority of people who come to the border will be turned away, still won’t call it a ‘crisis’
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Amid a surge in migrants at the southern border, White House press secretary Jen Psaki maintained Tuesday that a “majority” of people who arrive at the border are turned away.
“The majority of people that come to the border will be turned away,” Psaki said, repeating a statement she’s made in the past to assure that a more lax border policy was not allowing a free-rein inflow of migrants.
The Biden administration has ended a slew of Trump-era immigration policies Psaki said were “immoral and inhumane,” but maintains that due to a Trump-era coronavirus restriction on immigration, Title 42, many migrants and asylum seekers, including children with families, are turned away.
Still, Psaki is not looking to label the situation at the border as a “crisis.”
“I don’t think we need to sit here and put new labels on what we’ve already conveyed is challenging,” Psaki told reporters in the briefing room.
“If this doesn’t qualify as a crisis, what does?” another reporter pressed. “We think it’s most important to explain the substantive policy of what’s happening, what the root causes are of why these kids are coming and what we’re doing to try to solve [it].”
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is urging its staff to volunteer to help with what it admits are “overwhelming” numbers.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION LETS CHILD MIGRANT CENTERS EXPAND TO 100% CAPACITY AMID SURGE IN NUMBERS
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is expected to release its February numbers, including apprehensions of migrants at the border, on Wednesday. Two sources familiar with the numbers told Fox News that apprehensions are expected to be around 100,000, up from 78,000 in January.
The numbers are the latest sign that the surge in migrants risks turning into a tidal wave by the time peak migration season hits later this year. In the 2019 border crisis, the height was in May when agents encountered 144,000 migrants. In February that year, apprehensions were at 76,000 and 57,000 in January.
“It’s going to be insane come spring,” one CBP source told Fox News.
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Meanwhile, Psaki refused to confirm whether 3,200 migrant children had been held in Border Patrol facilities Monday, the New York Times first reported. More than 1,400 children had been held by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) beyond the legal limit of three days as of Monday, according to government documents.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.
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