White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that new testing requirements might be required for all people traveling into the U.S., but with regard to new COVID-19 restrictions for illegal immigrants, Fauci said, “That’s a different issue.”
“You advised the president about the possibility of new testing requirements for people coming into this country, does that include everybody?” Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy asked Fauci at a briefing Wednesday.
“The answer is yes,” Fauci said. “Anybody and everybody who’s coming into the country needs to get a test within 24 hours of getting on the plane to come here.”
“What about … these border crossers?” Doocy pressed.
“That’s a different issue,” Fauci replied.
WATCH:
Doocy: “You advised the president about the possibility of new testing requirements for people coming in to this country, does that include everybody?”
Fauci: “The answer is yes.”
Doocy: “What about … these border crossers?”
Fauci: “That’s a different issue.” pic.twitter.com/maW3pD2tIu
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) December 1, 2021
“We still have Title 42 with regard to protection at the border, so there are protections at the border,” Fauci went on to say, referencing public health order Title 42, implemented by the Trump administration in March 2020. Title 42 prohibits some individuals from entering the U.S. in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). (RELATED: Psaki Says Biden Was Criticizing ‘Xenophobic’ Tweet From Trump, Not Travel Restrictions)
“You don’t have the capability, as you know, of somebody getting on a plane, getting checked, looking at a passport. We don’t have that there, but we can get some degree of mitigation,” Fauci continued.
President Joe Biden’s policy, which is being considered, would require all travelers entering the country, including U.S. citizens, to provide proof of a negative test regardless of vaccination status no more than three days before their flight, according to Fox News.
Biden announced new travel restrictions Friday from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi, due to the Omicron COVID-19 variant.