Fox News Reporter Peter Doocy Confronts Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre Over Questionable Illegal Immigration Claim
The Biden administration made a claim this past Monday that illegal immigration has decreased by more than 90% during Biden's time in office. The claim was made by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy confronted her on the claim on Tuesday.
Doocy asked Jean-Pierre exactly where she had derived the "more than 90%" figure from, given that Customs and Border Protection says that illegal migration has increased compared to last year. Jean-Pierre responded by stating that the figure was based on data from the parolee program that President Biden had put in place to deal with certain countries on ways that the administration could limit illegal migration.
DOOCY: "You said yesterday that when it comes to illegal migration, you've seen it come down by more than 90%. Where did that number come from?"
JEAN-PIERRE: "If the dramatics could come down a little bit..."
DOOCY: "What's dramatic about asking a question?"
JEAN-PIERRE: "I… pic.twitter.com/siVXsh8CMj
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 2, 2023
However, Bill Melugin, another Fox News correspondent, explained that while immigration numbers from countries in the parolee program improved, this improvement was offset by increasing migration from countries not in the program. In fact, Melugin predicted back in January that the Biden administration would use the program to control the optics of the border crisis while simultaneously exacerbating it.
Melugin stated that the parolee program would almost certainly reduce recorded monthly border crossing numbers because nationalities included in the program are crossing in massive numbers. However, migrants not eligible for parole would have no incentive to turn themselves in now, and would evade as "gotaways."
The claim of a 90% decrease in illegal immigration has received a lot of attention since Monday's press briefing. Doocy’s attempt to clarify the source of the figure with Jean-Pierre was met with pushback, as she attempted to redirect the conversation to the parolee program.
It is important to note that, regardless of the specific figures, there is an ongoing issue with illegal immigration at the southern border. The Border Patrol announced that more than 22,000 migrants had been apprehended in the previous 72 hours alone. This is a staggering number, and highlights the ongoing issue of illegal immigration that the Biden administration is attempting to address.