No-vax policy claim doesn’t hold water

Pressed on the Biden administration’s decision not to require coronavirus vaccines or negative COVID-19 tests for people illegally crossing the souther border, White House press secretary Jen Psaki insisted Monday the refugees are “not intending to stay here for a lengthy period of time.”

That claim came despite thousands of migrants from Haiti and other countries flooding the southern border in recent days seeking permanent asylum in the United States.

Many reached a processing bottleneck in Del Rio, Texas, last week, leaving more than 12,000 migrants to camp under a bridge, sparking coronavirus and security threat concerns among local and state leaders.

During Monday’s daily press briefing, Psaki was asked why there are so many steps pertaining to COVID-19 when flying into the country, such as providing vaccination proof or a negative COVID-19 test, but seemingly none for those who walk across the border.

“As individuals come across the border, and they are both assessed for whether they have any symptoms, if they have symptoms, they are,” Psaki said.

“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.

“We are 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,” she added.