White House says end of Title 42 doesn’t mean border is open
Title 42, a pandemic-era immigration restriction is set to expire on Wednesday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted the border was not "open" and that anyone suggesting otherwise was doing the work of human smugglers in another ridiculed press conference Monday.
A major topic during the briefing was the looming expiration of Title 42, a public health rule in place since March 2020 that has been used to stem the growing border crisis by turning away migrants. Though border towns have expressed concerns over daily arrivals potentially doubling from the impact, the White House has been hesitant to explain how it plans to prepare for the impact of the expected 9,000 to 15,000 new arrivals per day.
Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre argued that these reports and the potential end of Title 42 don’t suggest the border is open and attacked anyone who claims that to be "spreading misinformation."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
"I want to be very clear here. The fact is that the removal of Title 42 does not mean the border is open," Jean-Pierre said. "Anyone who suggests otherwise is simply doing the work of these smugglers who, again, are spreading misinformation which is very dangerous."
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She also said, ""It would be wrong to think the border is open. It is not open."
These claims incurred the wrath of Twitter as users claimed the press secretary was "gaslighting" the country by refusing to recognize the historic numbers of border crossings under the Biden administration.
"KJP continues an epic run as [White House press secretary]…" The Hill columnist Joe Concha tweeted.
"What a mess," sportscaster Dan Dakich agreed.
Republican communicator Matt Whitlock wrote, "Curious if she knows that dozens of Democrats have been making that point."
National Review contributor Pradheep J. Shanker tweeted, "This is gaslighting. The border is more open today [than] it has been in the last decade. Don’t believe me? See Biden’s own DHS stats that confirm this."
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported over 2.3 million border encounters in fiscal year 2022. (Fox News)
Radio host Buck Sexton wrote, "The only people who think the southern border isn’t ‘open’ are White House officials and regime media propagandists."
"A bold-faced lie," Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw proclaimed, sharing photos of hundreds of illegal migrants crossing the border at night.
Substack writer John Hawkins added, "There's an easy solution to the enormous numbers of illegals making asylum claims to game our broken immigration laws. Stop giving anyone asylum. It's not as if it's benefitting [sic] us in any way."
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After the press briefing, the U.S. Supreme Court put a temporary hold on the expiration of Title 42 on Dec. 21.
A migrant waits on the Mexican side of the border after United States Customs and Border Protection officers detained a couple of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on the beach, in Tijuana, Mexico, Jan. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
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Both Republican and Democratic politicians have called on President Biden to extend the policy, warning the end of Title 42 will bring immigration disaster.
Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.