Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., finds it laughable that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre recently said President Joe Biden has "been doing the work since Day One" to secure the United States-Mexico border, when there's physical evidence to the contrary.
"Let's be very clear here: She's lying to the American people," Donalds told Newsmax on Friday while appearing on "John Bachman Now."
"It's been very frustrating that [the Biden White House believes] they've been working on the border, because the 'work' they have been doing was creating the problem in the first place," said Donalds, a member of the House Oversight Committee.
From Donalds' perspective, the Biden administration had previously failed in three areas, relative to controlling the southern border:
- Halting construction of the Trump-era border wall.
- Ignoring established protocols for when illegal immigrants claim "asylum."
- Allowing lethal drugs, such as fentanyl, to pour into the U.S. through drug cartels.
Donalds said a fourth failing will be added to the list Wednesday when Title 42 — a Trump-era health order which prevented asylum-seekers from crossing the southern border, due to the COVID-19 pandemic — officially expires.
When asked why the Biden administration has ignored many of the Trump policies connected to the asylum process, Donalds said: "It's a shell game. The Biden administration has bastardized the asylum process, letting anyone claim asylum" after illegally entering the country.
The migrants have been trained by the cartels on how the process works with Biden's Border Patrol, said Donalds, in terms of claiming asylum, and then knowing the immigration courts will be tied for up for years, thus allowing the migrants to roam free in the U.S. without consequences.
"And if the Senate Republicans agree to a [speculative] nine-month spending package" covering the next fiscal year, "they'll be taking any lever away from the House Republicans" to fix the border, said Donalds, while also singling out Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for the divide among GOP lawmakers.
"If the Republicans go along with this Senate bill, the border will continue to be unsecured," said Donalds.
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