Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that the massive influx of migrant children at the U.S. border is a crisis of President Biden’s own making.
Appearing on Fox News’ “Justice,” Mr. DeSantis told host Jeanine Pirro that Mr. Biden had adopted “disastrous” immigration policies that signaled to migrants the U.S. had opened its doors.
“It obviously is a disastrous change in policy, Judge,” the Republican governor said. “If you look, Donald Trump had, obviously, the wall, which we all supported, but also safe third-party agreements, as well as ’Remain in Mexico.’ And guess what happened? The border was under control. So they’ve gone back on those policies, and they’ve created this crisis.
“But I think that this is intentional,” Mr. DeSantis continued. “I think this is ideological. I think that they’re getting bit by this politically now. But I think that this was something that they absolutely anticipated. It’s a disastrous way to start an administration. I think most of the American people are going to be strongly opposed to this, and hopefully, they’ll reverse course.”
“Biden is going in the absolute wrong direction,” he added. “Trump had it right at the border. Biden’s got it wrong.”
The number of unaccompanied minors in federal custody on the southern U.S. border has reached record numbers under the Biden administration, increasing 25% from last week and forcing children to stay longer in overcrowded, jail-like facilities despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, ABC News reported Monday.
The Biden administration has repeatedly refused to characterize the border situation as a “crisis,” instead calling it a “challenge” as it reopens multiple facilities across the country to accommodate the influx of migrants.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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