Obama DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson warns about political cost to Biden administration of border crisis
Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is warning the Biden administration about the potential political consequences of ongoing immigration problems at the southern U.S. border.
Multiple government agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Homeland Security have said that the already high numbers of border crossings. And those numbers will likely increase dramatically once the administration lifts Title 42 – the federal law used by the Trump administration to limit migrants into the U.S. amid the pandemic.
The Washington Post recently reported that DHS officials have tapped Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel to help deal with the potential for as many as 18,000 migrants a day crossing the border, as the annual spring migration begins.
Johnson thinks the administration should keep Title 43 in place for at least a few more months until peak migration season is over – a solution already posed by some congressional Democrats.
The concern is high among moderate Democrat and those seeking reelection this year in battleground states and congressional districts.
"Numbers at these levels are difficult to handle on the southern border," Jeh said Sunday on CBS. It’s challenging for the Border Patrol, for ICE to properly process and track these individuals.
"And, obviously, the Biden administration is paying a political cost for these. March, April, May tend to be the peak seasons for migration on our southern border. And so DHS will have a challenge."