Politics

‘Definitely Not’: Illegal Immigrant Says He Wouldn’t Have Crossed The Border If Trump Was President

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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A father who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally told ABC’s Martha Raddatz that he would not have done so if former President Donald Trump were still in office.

During a segment of “This Week” that aired Sunday morning, Raddatz interviewed a man from Brazil who had crossed the border with his wife and children — and he told her that he made the choice not to come until President Joe Biden took office. (RELATED: Meghan McCain Unloads On Sara Haines: ‘Give The Guy A Break While Kids Are Being Held In Jail-Like Facilities?’)

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“This father who asked we not show his face, traveled to Mexico from Brazil with his wife and three young kids before crossing the border,” Raddatz said by way of introduction. “Would you have tried to do this when Donald Trump was president?”

“Definitely not. Definitely. We had the chance, you know, but the same violence that’s going on today was there last year,” the man replied, making it clear that it was the political situation in the United States rather than the situation in his home country that had made all the difference. “We used to watch the news, I definitely wouldn’t do this.”

“Did you come here because Joe Biden was elected president?” Raddatz asked.

“Basically. Basically,” the man said, adding, “The main thing was the violence in my country, and the second thing I think was Joe Biden. You know, it’s like it lightened up my hope, you know what I mean?”

The Biden administration has encouraged those who want to come to the United Stated to wait until there are mechanisms in place to speed the immigration process, but those warnings appear to have little impact on those intent on crossing the border.

A number of critics have argued that Biden’s sudden reversal of Trump’s border policies like “Remain in Mexico” have contributed to the unprecedented surge in ways that the administration should have expected.