White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci rejected that the undocumented migrants coming across the Southern Border were at all responsible for the COVID-19 surges seen particularly in the south.
“The problem is within our own country,” Fauci said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. “Certainly immigrants can get infected but they’re not the driving force of this.”
When asked about his opinion in regards to the reevaluation of Title 42, an order that would allow immigration officials to expel migrants more quickly because of the pandemic, Fauci deflected, stating that he “wasn’t familiar with the intricacies of that rule.” He further stated that “focusing on immigrants, expelling them, is not the solution to an outbreak.” (RELATED: Dr. Anthony Fauci: Trump’s Decision To Stop Travel From China Helped Contain Coronavirus)
Migrant encounters are at a 21-year high, according to the Pew Research Center.
In March, more than 170,000 migrants crossed the border -many coming from countries with high infection rates – but according to The New York Times, Border Patrol wasn’t conducting tests for coronavirus except in cases where migrants showed obvious symptoms.
The Texas border city of McAllen stated that more than 7,000 COVID-positive migrants had been released into their community.
Republican lawmakers and officials have criticized the Biden administration for the unprecedented number of illegal migrants crossing the Southern Border. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis aired his frustrations on The Ingraham Angle stating, “This is a guy that ran for president saying he would shut down the virus. He was not going to shut down America or the economy. He would shut down the virus. Yet what is he doing? He is bringing in people from over 100 different countries across the southern border. Every variant on this planet – some we don’t even know about – are absolutely coming into our country that way.”
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz stated in a July press release, “We’re in a pandemic. Joe Biden likes to talk about what a priority he puts on the pandemic. Understand this, if the Biden administration ends title 42 they will be releasing illegal immigrants in your community who are COVID positive. We’re seeing COVID positivity rates rising in South Texas. We’re seeing COVID positivity rising in Laredo. We’re seeing COVID positivity rising in San Antonio. Just yesterday, I spoke with the mayor of Uvalde, Texas, who said as a result of the illegal immigrants being released – in Uvalde they’re seeing COVID positivity spiking up. And Biden wants to release even more COVID positive illegal immigrants. This is lunacy.”