White House press secretary Jen Psaki refused to say if migrants who are walking across the border are required to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Psaki if any of the migrants who are walking across the border and setting up camps were asked to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.
“First of all, I can re-address for you what steps we take …”
“So if somebody walks into the country, right across the river, does somebody ask to see their vaccination card?” Doocy asked. (RELATED: Immigrants Will Need To Be Vaccinated To Apply For Benefits)
“Well, let me explain to you again, Peter, how our process works,” the press secretary said.
Psaki said that as migrants come across the border, they are screened for symptoms of COVID-19 and quarantined if they are symptomatic.
“They are not intending to stay here for a lengthy period of time,” she continued. “It’s not the same thing. These are individuals, as we’ve noted … we are expelling individuals based on Title 42 specifically because of COVID. Because we want to prevent a scenario where large numbers of people are gathering, posing a threat to the community and also to the migrants themselves.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that Title 42 — a Trump-era public health order that allows border patrol to expel some migrants — stay in place, Psaki said.
Doocy pressed Psaki on why the Biden administration is requiring vaccination for around 100 million American workers but did not implement a similar requirement for migrants. Psaki told him that the more people who are vaccinated, “whether they are migrants or whether they are workers, protects more people in the United States.”