Grassley on Biden Allowing Illegal Aliens to Enter the Country Without Testing: ‘Is That Protecting Our Citizens?’

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 20: Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) speaks during a television inte
Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) criticized President Biden on Tuesday, questioning why the U.S. is requiring international travelers to undergo a coronavirus test and wield negative results but allowing illegal aliens at the U.S.-Mexico border to enter the country without testing.

“Can’t fly into USA w/o showing negative test for virus but Pres Biden will let ppl who illegally walked across the border do so w/o testing,” the 87-year-old lawmaker said. “Is that protecting our citizens?”:

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it would require international travelers entering the United States, including U.S. citizens, to present proof of a negative coronavirus test prior to boarding flights en route to the country. The requirement went into effect on January 26.

In a guidance last updated February 5, the CDC advised:

If you plan to travel internationally, you will need to get tested no more than 3 days before you travel by air into the United States (US) and show your negative result to the airline before you board your flight, or be prepared to show documentation of recovery (proof of a recent positive viral test and a letter from your healthcare provider or a public health official stating that you were cleared to travel).

Now, Biden’s administration is considering attaching a similar requirement to domestic flights.

“The safer we can make air travel in terms of perception as well as reality, the more people are going to be ready to get back in the air,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in an interview with Axios, noting that there is “an active conversation with the CDC right now”:

While the administration is considering the requirement for domestic travelers, as Grassley stated on Tuesday, the administration is not applying the same rule to illegal border crossers.

“Tests for Americans before domestic flights? By dismantling immigration enforcement, the Biden administration invited a wave of illegal immigrants — and they’re allowed in without COVID tests,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) observed. “To Biden, illegal immigrants come before Americans”:

The U.S. has reported 26,852,809 cumulative cases of the virus since the start of the pandemic, according to the CDC’s February 8 data.

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