On 1/6/2023, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says Biden “inherited a mess” at southern border, absurdly blames republicans. A reporter asked her, ” Just in terms of comprehensive immigration reform, which obviously the President has called on Congress to enact over and over again, what is his sort of theory of the case right now for getting that done? Will he be taking his own actions to do outreach to members? Does he basically consider that a top priority going into the new Congress?”

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, first of all, it is a top priority. I mean, the President put forth a comprehensive immigration reform on day one. So … look, I also want to just put this in a broader context here. The President inherited a mess because of what the last administration did. They herited a — we inherited a mess. And, you know, Republicans in Congress made it worse by blocking comprehensive immigration reform.

And so what you’re seeing from this President is he’s acting — he’s acting to protect — to continue to protect the border, secure the border, and also deal with irregular migration.

reporter: I guess, if I could just — sorry, but —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Sure.
reporter: Since you
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. I know, since I called you out, Michael. (Laughter.)
reporter: I mean, the advocacy folks in the community of people who are lawyers and advocates and humanitarian experts, what they would say is the President is using the tools, and he’s using them in a harsh and unbalanced way. I mean, I think John referenced the — you know, trying to balance these — these issues. And yes, that — that’s true … this time, it’ll be against you guys. And I guess I just — I guess I just — that puts this President, who spent so much time on the campaign trail talking about how — you know, how he wanted to be different than Donald Trump when it came to immigration issues — I mean, it just puts you guys in a really awkward —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So —
reporter: — awkward place. Doesn’t it?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I have to say, Michael, I take — look, I understand what you’re saying. But I do take — you know, I do take issue with comparing us to Donald Trump, who —
reporter: It’s not me. I’m just — I’m —
l
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, no, no — no, I know you are the messenger, and you are giving me the information. I am responding to what you just said … And just want to list out a couple of things what this administration has done. It’s increased work visas, including H-2A and H-2B visas, for Central America and Haiti. It restarted the Central American Minors Program. It expanded parolee programs for Venezuelan, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Haiti, as we’ve been talking about these past few minutes. It expanded refugee admissions in the Western Hemisphere. Significantly expanded TPS for Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua, and many more. And created renewed unification parolee programs for families from Haiti and Cuba. These are the things that the President is trying to do to make sure we are doing this in a humane way.

reporter: And just to follow up on something that Mr. Kirby said, he said that the people from these four countries are escaping intolerable circumstances. I looked at the most recent month of data for people who crossed the border and how they’re handled. And it seems that under this new program — and please correct me if the data is outdated — it seems like you might have a better chance crossing the border and being allowed to stay than applying for this program because there are only 30,000 slots per month.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I will go back to what I have said and what the President has said, I think, very passionately yesterday and very precisely, which is that, you know, we are doing everything that we can to secure the border and to deal with irregular migration. That is a priority for this administration since day one. We understand this is one step. We understand to actually fix what — what is happening, this broken immigration system that we have seen for decades now, is to actually get legislation done. And so, look, you know, what I have said and what many of us have said, like, we are ready to work. We are ready to put forth plans as we have. And, you know, again, Republicans in Congress and Republicans official — across — across the country who have done political stunts are not. And if they truly want to deal with this issue, they would come to the table and they would work with us on immigration reform to — true comprehensive immigration reform.

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WH: Biden “Inherited A Mess” at Southern Border, blames Republicans, 30K/month compared to Trump