Psaki says Biden still has full confidence in Kamala Harris’ ability to deal with chaos at border. On 4/20/2022, Fox News’s reporter Peter Doocy asked, “Does the President still have confidence that the Vice President can get to the bottom of root causes of migration?” Jen Psaki replied, “He absolutely does and is grateful for her work in doing exactly that.” Doocy followed up, “Why?”
Ms Psaki: Why does he have confidence? Or — should I — should I give you an update on a couple of the things we’ve done?
Doocy: Well — so, does the President — what gives the President confidence when he sees that March 2022 has 28 percent more migrant encounters at the border than March 2021, when she got this assignment?
Ms Psaki: Well, you asked me about root causes — right? — so let me address that first and what the Vice President and other members of the administration who have been working with her have been doing. So we’ve been working with source and transit countries in the region to facilitate the quick return of individuals who previously resided in those countries, as well as to stem migration in its state. Some of that is getting agreements with partner countries on migration-related matters, and that’s something that the Vice President has been deeply engaged with.
I’d also note that Secretary Mayorkas — who, of course, has worked with her on this — traveled to … shared commitment to both manage migrant flows, as well as to promote — promote economic growth in the region. And we also are maintaining a close partnership between the government of Mexico and the United States to stem irregular migration.
Doocy: Is the President or are you guys having discussions with advisors about delaying the removal of Title 42?
Ms Psaki: Well, I would again remind everyone — because you gave me the opportunity, so thank you — Title 42 is not an immigration authority. I will —
Doocy: Is it going to be —
Ms Psaki: — I will get to your —
Doocy: — around past the end of May?
Ms Psaki: I will — I will get to your question. I promise, Peter.
It is a public health authority. Congress gave the CDC authority to make determinations about when it should be lifted. So, right now, we are planning and preparing for the end of Title 42 enforcement on May 23rd. But I would say that there are a range — the President agrees that immigration in our country is broken; it’s a system that is broken. There are a range of ideas out there in Congress — Democrats, Republicans, others — some who support a delay of Title 42 implementation, some who strongly oppose it. And there are a range of other ideas of reforming our immigration system.
Reporter: We’ve been reporting that the administration is projecting a big budget shortfall for ICE and CBP should Title 42 be lifted. Is there a plan for how to get additional funding that’s going to be needed to handle immigrants coming into the country? If that — Title 42 is lifted, will you need funds from Congress? Can you divert funds from somewhere else? What’s the thinking?
Ms Psaki: So what DHS said last month is that they expect the current funding levels will not be sufficient to meet operational needs, but they have a number of options available to secure the resources required to implement our comprehensive strategy. This includes reprioritizing and reallocating existing funds; re- — requesting additional support from other federal agencies; if necessary, engaging with Congress on that discussion.
Reporter: And if — because we’re just about a month away from this being lifted — if the administration doesn’t feel like that plan is in place yet, would that be a reason to delay lifting Title 42?
Ms Psaki: Well, we proposed a plan. So that’s a plan that is being implemented. In terms of any ideas to address immigration, including any delay of Title 42, that would require congressional action.
White House reporters asked Jen Psaki if the Biden DOJ will appeal a ruling on the federal mask mandate. “The Department of Justice has indicated that they would appeal, not just because they think it’s entirely reasonable…but because they think for current and future public health crises, uh, we want to preserve that authority for the CDC to have in the future,” Psaki said.
“Our focus here was seeing what power we had to preserve,” Psaki said. When a reporter on 4/19/2022 asked Biden if people should continue to wear masks on planes after a Trump-appointed federal judge declared his mandate unlawful. “That’s up to them,” Biden said. Now Psaki is walking back Biden’s comment. “The president was answering the question quite literally,” Psaki said reiterating the Biden Admin’s stance that Americans should wear masks on planes.
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Confidence VP Harris border root causes, Title 42 comprehensive strategy, appealing mask mandate preserve CDC authority.