Chad Wolf, the former acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, issued a warning to the Biden administration on the immigration crisis at the U.S. border, telling Fox News that President Joe Biden’s message to immigrants to stay home won’t work.
"At the end of the day, these illegal migrants don't listen to government officials," Wolf said. "They listen to other illegals who have gotten into the U.S. that call them and tell them that they are here, they are staying in the U.S., they are not being deported or removed to their home countries."
More than 100,400 people attempted to cross the U.S. border in February, a 28 percent increase since January, according to Troy Miller, Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
More than 9,400 of those stopped were unaccompanied minors, up from 5,800 in January, according to the New York Times.
Biden on Tuesday told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that his administration was sending people back.
"Do you have to say quite clearly, 'don't come?'" Stephanopoulos asked.
"Yes, I can say quite clearly: don't come," Biden responded, later adding, "Don't leave your town or city or community."
When asked whether it was a mistake to anticipate the surge, Biden said: "First of all, there was a surge in the last two years. In '19 and '20, there was a surge, as well."
“This one might be worse,” Stephanopoulos noted.
"The idea that Joe Biden said, 'Come' -- because I heard the other day that they're coming because they know I'm a nice guy," Biden said.
"Here's the deal, they're not," he said.
Lawmakers say the surge is inundating their communities.
“You have all these small communities that are doing everything they can to stay afloat during this environment,” Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas.
“These communities along the border, in particular, are compassionate communities. Immigration is not a new topic to them, but the numbers that are coming across are record numbers,” said Gonzales. “Our Border Patrol agents are stretched thin; they need resources today.”
Wolf called the situation a “full-blown crisis.”
"Back in 2019 under President Trump we had messaging as ‘don't come because you will not be let into the country,’" he noted.
"We know that the vast majority of these folks do not qualify for asylum, but unfortunately today we have a different set of messaging and a different set of policies in place which are encouraging, they are the pull factors that we see today, which is encouraging this crisis."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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