On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby responded to a question on why President Joe Biden hasn’t ended catch and release by stating that executive action can only do so much and lots of countries are dealing with large numbers of migrants.
Host Martha MacCallum said, “[W]e saw how the Supreme Court decided on this decision, but what’s happening now, as a result of that, is that the razor wire that was put to prevent people from crossing is being removed at this point. So, I think it’s a legitimate question to ask, the President could take executive action on the border. He could end catch and release so that we wouldn’t have thousands of people coming into the country, 800 gotaways a day. So, it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of fire in his belly, John, to stop people from entering. It seems that he wants — he’s okay with the opposite.”
Kirby responded, “I don’t think he’s lacking any sense of urgency about the need for border security at all. And he has taken some executive actions, such as putting U.S. troops down there to help take off of some of the Border Patrol — some of their tasks and some of their responsibilities so that they can focus on immigration work itself.”
After defending the push to remove the wire by arguing that it helps Border Patrol do their jobs, Kirby added, “But there’s no lack of sense of urgency here on the importance of working on the border. But look, executive action can only go so far, and, certainly, he’s not afraid to use that.”
Later, MacCallum said, “You say that he’s been concerned about it for three years. But that’s failing, obviously, because when you have record numbers of people coming in, that means the policy is failing. So, why not change gears and try to do something that works?”
Kirby responded, “I think it’s important to put this in context, too, Martha. You’re seeing, as you rightly said, record numbers of people. And it’s not just the United States that [is] facing that pressure, lots of countries in the hemisphere, including Mexico, [are] facing a lot of pressure at their own southern border. There are more people on the move in this hemisphere right now than there [have] been since World War II.”
Kirby also stated that we need more resources for the border.
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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