Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy and White House press secretary Jen Psaki got into a testy exchange over immigration during Wednesday’s press briefing.
Doocy began by inquiring whom the press could ask about how many migrants were released into the United States and how many were sent back. He said that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief Alejandro Mayorkas told the press he did not know the updated numbers.
“You can certainly ask the Department of Homeland Security,” Psaki told him. “I am confident he wanted to have the most updated numbers and will venture to get you those, I promise you, this afternoon.”
The Fox News reporter pressed Psaki about whether this is an issue of not knowing the numbers or if there are a lot more migrants being released into the United States than are being sent out. Psaki replied that the issue is not migrants being released into the country, because they are allegedly being expelled under Title 42. (RELATED: Illegal Migrants Attack ICE Officers Transporting Them To Airport: REPORT)
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“If they can’t be expelled under Title 42, they are put into a removal process. If they are put into a removal process, they are either transported to an ICE facility or released with a legal document. That legal document includes fingerprints, photos, phone numbers, and addresses in the United States, and a background check,” Psaki claimed.
Doocy then asked why the Biden administration is using a “Trump-era regulation” like Title 42 to “defend” their handling of the border crisis.
“You guys came in saying that the Trump-era immigration policies were very inhumane,” Doocy noted.
Title 42 is a “health authority” and not an “immigration policy,” Psaki responded.
“The Trump administration’s approach to immigration was inhumane and was immoral,” she continued. “That’s why we need to put a new policy in place and we need Congress to pass that policy.”
Doocy pointed out that a new policy had not been put in place despite having a Democrat-controlled Congress, and the press secretary told him that they are in fact negotiating a new policy.
The Biden administration’s approach to the border crisis has come under fire yet again as Haitian immigrants pour into the United States.
Photos appeared to show border patrol agents using horse reins, and it remains unclear whether the reins were being used to control horses or migrants. Shocking videos showed more than 10,000 migrants camping under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, in makeshift tents, and recent reports allege that some of the Haitian migrants in the encampment were being released into the United States.