During Monday’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that migrants who illegally enter the United States do not need to prove they are vaccinated because they are “not intending to stay here for a lengthy period of time.”
“I have a question about what’s going on at the border is somebody asking the foreign nationals who are walking in and Del Rio, Texas and setting up camps on this side of the border for proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test?” Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked.
“Well, first of all I can I can re-address for you, or re-talk you through what steps we take–” Psaki said.
“That’s the policy for people who fly into the country. So if somebody walks into the country, right across the river, does somebody asked them to see their vaccination card?” Doocy asked.
“Well, let me explain to you again, Peter, how our process works,” Psaki responded. “As individuals, as individuals come across the border, and they are both assessed for whether they have any symptoms, if they have symptoms they are, the intention is for them to be quarantined, that is our process. They’re not intending to stay here for a lengthy period of time. I don’t think it’s the same thing. It’s not the same thing. These are individuals, as we’ve noted, and as we’ve been discussed, we’re 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. So, those are the policies that we put in place, in large part because, again, the CDC continues to recommend Title 42 to be in place given we’re facing a global pandemic.”
It should be noted that the vast majority of illegal immigrants who cross the United States’ southern border are, in fact, planning to stay for a lengthy period of time and are applying for asylum to do so.
