OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had difficulty in naming one thing that Vice President Kamala Harris has accomplished as the “border czar.”
During the press briefing, a reporter for the Washington Post asked Jean-Pierre: “The President tasked the Vice President with studying and working on the root causes of some of these issues. I’m wondering if there’s any update from this side of the White House on what she’s been doing and what she will continue to do as we’re expecting an influx at the border after Wednesday.”
“I don’t have anything to lay out specifically on what that work looks like,” Jean-Pierre said. “You’re right, that has been her charge, to work in a diplomatic way on finding the root causes of — of migration.”
After that non-answer, Jean-Pierre directed the reporter to speak with the VP’s office about the issue.
“I would probably refer you to her office on anything specific on the work that she’s doing,” Jean-Pierre said. “Again, we appreciate her partnership.”
WATCH:
Reporter: "Is there any update .. on what [Kamala Harris] has been doing and what she will continue to do" about the border.
KJP: "I don't have anything to lay out specifically on what that work looks like … I would probably refer you to her office."pic.twitter.com/B3otzbWucC
— Patriot News Alerts (@pxn45) December 20, 2022
KJP also refused to say if the Biden administration supported ending Title 42.
The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked an order late on Monday that would lift pandemic-era restrictions on asylum seekers, but the justices left the door open to lifting the restrictions by Wednesday.
“The order Monday by Chief Justice John Roberts comes as conservative states are pushing to keep limits on asylum seekers that were put in place during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. They are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort before the limits are set to expire,” Yahoo reported.
“In the one-page order, Roberts granted a stay pending further order and asked the government to respond by 5 p.m. Tuesday. That is just hours before the restrictions are slated to expire on Wednesday. Conservative states pushing to keep limits on asylum-seekers put in place during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort before the limits are set to expire. But with the immigration restrictions going away on Wednesday it’s unclear if the Supreme Court will intervene. The nineteen states on Monday asked the court for an emergency stay that would keep Title 42 in place,” the report added.
Title 42 is a law giving the federal government the power to shut down the border as an emergency action. It was put in place under then-President Donald Trump in March 2020 and has prevented hundreds of thousands of migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S.
The rule was set to expire before the Supreme Court stepped in as thousands more migrants are packed in shelters on Mexico’s border with the U.S.
Trump used Title 42 in 2020 when the COVID pandemic broke out worldwide. Since it was enacted, over two million migrants have been expelled. President Joe Biden also left the rule in place.
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott warned of the coming mayhem.
“If the courts don’t intervene and put a halt of removal to the Title 42 it’s going to be total chaos. It was known from the time that Joe Biden got elected that Joe Biden supported open borders. It is known by the cartels who have sophisticated information whether or not the Biden administration is going to enforce the immigration laws or not is known across the world but most importantly, known among the cartels,” Abbott said.
“Some do come across with COVID and no one knows exactly who comes across with COVID. These people are not tested when they come across the border and so who knows how many people have COVID, who knows what other types of disease they may have. The answer is nobody knows because nobody is testing them,” the governor said.
“This is very important because there are people across the globe who have a valid, solid reason to come to the United States, but they can do so legally right now. The people who have the ability to come to the United States legally get pushed further and further and further back in the line every single day with the thousands of illegal immigrants coming across the border,” Abbott said.
