White House Reporter Grows Visibly Frustrated By Karine’s Dodges On The Border Crisis

CBS’ White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe grew visibly frustrated with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre as she tried to dodge his question on the growing border crisis Wednesday.

O’Keefe noted when Biden took office he issued an Executive Order to “restore the strength in our own asylum system which has been badly damaged by policies enacted over the last four years and contravene our values and cause needless human suffering.”

“Our reporting … indicates the White House, through sources in the administration, is open to an authority that would allow it to suspend asylum processing when there is a spike in border crossings. Wouldn’t that be a major policy reversal and revert back to the previous four years?” O’Keefe asked.

“I’m just not gonna go into sourcing from here. I’m not gonna get into specifics. There are negotiations happening. [I’m] not gonna negotiate from the podium. Gonna let the conversation happen. We have to find a bipartisan compromise. That’s what the president said. That’s what the president believes in order to deal with this issue — and you started off your question … laying out actually that the president did put forth, you laid that out in your question, a comprehensive immigration reform plan. He did that on day one and it is going on three years —”

O’Keefe then cut Jean-Pierre off to ask why Biden has met with Congress to discuss foreign policy, fiscal policy and other policies but never immigration.

“I hear you, Ed, and we have regular conversations with congressional leaders and congressional staff about an array of issues, including this. I mean this is, you cannot send a bigger message to Congress and the American people when you say your first — when you put out, your first piece of legislation — is on this issue, is on reforming immigration right —”

“Doesn’t it land flat when you spend very little public time, as president, talking about the issue, meeting with congressional leaders on the issue specifically, or doing anything else other than having you come up here and say, ‘We issued a bill on day one,'” O’Keefe pressed. (RELATED: Border Patrol Nabs Tunisian Man Who Overstayed Visa After He Allegedly Tried To ‘Purchase’ Child)

“I disagree! It’s not just issuing a bill. Not too long ago, back in the spring, we put forth policies on trying to make sure that because Congress didn’t help, trying to put forth policies that try to make the immigration system humane, right, humane and actually dealing with the issue we’re seeing at the border.”

The Biden Administration is open to bringing back several Trump-era migrant expulsion policies to get Republican support for Ukraine aid, CBS News reported. The plans would include expelling migrants without screening them for asylum and increasing deportations and detentions. Several democrats have spoken out against the plan, though Speaker of the House Mike Johnson reiterated Republicans’ stance they will only support Ukraine aid if it includes funding for border security.