Ambassador Roberta Jacobson accidentally told reporters that the border is open after Wednesday’s press briefing switched over to Spanish.
President Joe Biden picked Jacobson, a former diplomat, as a National Security Council (NSC) coordinator for the Southern border in January. Jacobson answered questions Wednesday and discussed changes to immigration policy as the country experiences a surge of migrants trying to cross the border.
At one point, Jacobson, bouncing from English to Spanish, accidentally told reporters that the border is not closed. She later clarified her comments, noting in Spanish that the border is closed and reiterating that now is not the moment for migrants to arrive irregularly into the U.S.
“No esta cerrada,” Jacobson first accidentally said.
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— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) March 10, 2021
The press briefing was done mostly in English, but ended in Spanish after a reporter asked two questions in Spanish. Jacobson answered entirely in Spanish for both questions before ending the briefing.
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Immigration has been a highlight since Biden took office and the administration has been called out on what some say is a lack of transparency regarding the situation. (RELATED: Number Of Minor Detainees At Southern Border Has Tripled Over Last Two Weeks)
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to confirm reports that unaccompanied minor were flooding to the U.S.-Mexico border.