White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki warns illegal immigrants 'now is NOT the time to come to the border, the vast majority of people will be turned away' amid mounting fears of border crisis
Joe Biden's White House discouraged on Wednesday migrants traveling to the southern border seeking asylum in the U.S. because they will be 'turned away' at this time.
'Due to the pandemic and the fact that we have not had the time as an administration to put in place a humane, comprehensive process for processing individuals who are coming to the border, now is not the time to come,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday.
She added: 'The vast majority of people will be turned away.'
When Biden was elected, a massive caravan of migrants from Central America began marching to the U.S.-Mexico border to hold the president accountable for his promise to accept all those seeking asylum into the U.S.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki warned illegal immigrants Wednesday that 'now is not the time' to seek asylum at the U.S. southern border
When Joe Biden was elected, a massive caravan from Central America began migrating north to the U.S.-Mexico border with promises of asylum
'Due to the pandemic and the fact that we have not had the time as an administration to put in place a humane, comprehensive process for processing individuals who are coming to the border, now is not the time to come. The vast majority of people will be turned away' she said
Notably, Biden made this promise in contract to Donald Trump's hard-line immigration politics - including the construction of a southern border wall.
On Biden's first day in office last month, one of the more than a dozen executive orders he signed immediately stopped construction of Trump's famed wall.
'Asylum processes at the border will not occur immediately – it will take time to implement,' Psaki admitted.
She added that while 'the vast majority have been turned away', some who have reached the border since Biden took office and are seeking asylum have made it through and are still sitting in limbo awaiting their hearing.
'So this is not the time to come, and this is obviously an emotional issue for many of us,' Biden's press secretary continued during a briefing at the White House Wednesday.
Psaki urged patience, claiming it would take time to get a new process in place for asylum seekers as well as allowing those immigrants already in the U.S. an easier path to citizenship.
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