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Senator John Cornyn on Tuesday insisted new White House press secretary Jen Psaki on how the Biden administration will handle the caravan of migrants to the United States of Central America after announcing that the new president would tighten the limits of international travel in the event of a pandemic.
The exchange came after President Trump, in an executive order, announced on Monday that the United States would lift travel restrictions imposed last year on air passengers who were recently in the United Kingdom, Europe and Brazil. .
The restrictions would be lifted on January 26, the same date that a new negative coronavirus test requirement for air travelers to the United States would come into effect. The rationale behind lifting previous restrictions, as ordered by Trump, was that the United States can expect these jurisdictions to comply with the new requirement of a negative test.
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But Psaki was quick to say President-elect Biden, rather than easing travel restrictions for foreign countries, would crack down.
“With the pandemic worsening and more contagious variants emerging around the world, now is not the time to lift restrictions on international travel,” she said. “On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26. In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19. “
Cornyn replied on Tuesday: “Does that include the Central American migrant caravans?”
One of the first major challenges the Biden administration will face is a huge caravan of migrants currently heading to the United States from Central America.
On Friday, two groups of more than 3,000 Honduran migrants each entered Guatemala without registering as part of a larger caravan to the United States, the Associated Press reported. A third group entered Guatemala on Saturday. The migrants aim to reach Mexico, which is north of Guatemala, and eventually to get to the border with the United States.
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Republicans criticized Biden’s campaign rhetoric for attracting the trailer. Biden pledged a path to citizenship for 11 million people during his campaign and the Pueblos Sin Fronteras organization, on behalf of the caravan, called on the new Biden administration to “honor its commitments.”
Videos show the caravan traveling in tight crowds with few masks.
Biden’s intended candidate for secretary of Homeland Security, the agency overseeing border security, is Alejandro Mayorkas. At a Senate hearing Tuesday, Mayorkas was pressed on how he would handle the trailer by Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.
Homeland Security Secretary candidate Alejandro Mayorkas takes his seat to testify during his confirmation hearing at the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs on Tuesday, January 19, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Bill Clark / Pool via AP)
“What is your intention with regard to this caravan coming to our border. Is your intention to just allow them to enter our country? Will they be arrested?” Romney asked.
“When people show up at our border, we apply the laws of our nation and determine whether they are eligible for assistance under our humanitarian laws or if they do not,” Mayorkas said.
Romney replied that his answer seemed “uncertain.”
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“I apologize if I was unsure. If people qualify under the law to stay in the United States, then we will apply the law accordingly. If they are not qualified to stay in the United States, then they won’t, ”Mayorkas said. .
Romney did not specifically push Mayorkas on how he would handle the potential coronavirus threat from the trailer.
Biden’s transition team did not respond to questions from Fox News on Monday about whether they believed Biden’s campaign rhetoric provoked the trailer and whether Biden was planning to allow people from the trailer to the United States. She also did not specify whether those entering the United States from the trailer will be subject to the same coronavirus protocols as air travelers.
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