MARCH 10, 2021 By Jordan Davidson

President Joe Biden’s Southern border czar Roberta Jacobson admitted on Wednesday during the White House press briefing that the recent surge of migrants at the border is directly correlated with the new administration’s open border policies.

“Do you think it’s a coincidence that as soon as Trump and his immigration policy were on the way out and Biden and his stated policy were on the way in, this historic surge at the border started?” asked Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy.

“We’ve seen surges before. Surges tend to respond to hope and there was a significant hope for a more humane policy. After four years of, you know, pent-up demand,” Jacobson responded. “So I don’t know whether I would call that a coincidence, but I certainly think that the idea that a more humane policy would be in place, may have driven people to make that decision.”

Doocy pressed Jacobson further, asking if she thought the influx of migrants, especially the projected 117,000 unaccompanied minors, was good, the border czar walked back some of her enthusiasm.

“I don’t think that’s what I just said. I think it’s a reflection of how migrants feel at a particular time. I think what we are doing is making sure that we respond to that hope for people who need protection, we respond to that hope in a way that their cases can be adjudicated more quickly, but I don’t think anybody would say that coming to the United States in an irregular fashion is a good thing,” Jacobson said, blaming the increasing amounts of people crossing the border on disinformation spread by smugglers.

When another reporter asked about the Biden administration’s mixed messaging on the border including dissuading migrants from crossing but promising them a prosperous path to a future in America, Jacobson admitted the administration is trying to “walk and chew gum at the same time.”

“We are trying to convey to everyone in the region that we will have legal processes in the future … But at the same time, you cannot come through irregular means,” Jacobson said. 

Jacobson joined other heads in the Biden administration in refusing to call the surge at the Southern border a crisis, merely stating that Biden is “clear-eyed about the challenges” his administration faces in the coming days. Despite her optimism, Jacobson urged potential migrants to avoid coming to the U.S., accidentally telling them the “the border is not closed” in Spanish and then later correcting her message to “the border is closed.”

Jordan Davidson is a staff writer at The Federalist. She graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism.

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