Former President Donald Trump took advantage of the Super Tuesday election day to attack the Biden Administration
with misleading claims
about the entry of migrants into the United States.
Through his social network Truth Social, Trump painted an alarming picture by publishing that the White House brought more than 300,000 undocumented migrants into the country by plane.
“This is both illegal and crazy,” Trump wrote.
The Republican leader appears to be referring to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies that claims to be based on a demand for information about the CBP One cell phone application, which immigrants seeking asylum use to request an appointment with US immigration authorities.
The document details that 320,000 migrants arrived at 43 airports in the country in 2023, after being pre-approved in the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) application.
But the matter is not as Trump paints it
.
The people who came to the United States, to whom he refers, applied for a parole program approved by the Government, had sponsors in the country, such as friends and family,
and paid for their own air tickets to travel to the United States
, he explained in Twitter lawyer Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director of the American Immigration Council.
Migrants crossing under the wire fence in Eagle Pass, Texas, in a file photo from 2023. Eric Gay / AP
“The program is no secret,” Reichlin-Melnick explained.
Biden explained in a January 2023 speech that the goal of the CBP One system is
to reduce the number of illegal border crossings,
asking applicants to apply through the app from their countries.
It is completely legal.
The Immigration and Nationality Law grants the Administration the ability to admit people for humanitarian reasons."
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick POLICY DIRECTOR OF THE AMERICAN IMMIGRATION COUNCIL
"They must have a legal sponsor here in the United States who agrees to support them to get here," the president explained.
"Then that person has to leave: undergo rigorous background checks and apply from outside the United States and, in the meantime, not cross the border illegally."
“If they apply and their application is approved, they can use the same application (…) to present themselves at a port of entry and be able to work in the United States legally
for two years
,” the White House noted.
Migrants walk in the rain at Floyd Bennett Field, in Brooklyn, New York, on Tuesday, January 9, 2024. Mary Altaffer / AP
Shortly after the Center for Immigration Studies report was published, Elon Musk also shared the figure out of context,
falsely
claiming that “this Administration is importing voters and creating a national security threat from unvetted illegal immigrants.” ”.
“This is why far-left groups are fighting so hard to stop voter ID requirements, under the absurd guise of protecting the right to vote,” said the billionaire Tesla CEO.
The cited report, written by Todd Bensman, author of
Overtaken: How Joe Biden Unleashed the Largest Border Crisis in American History
and
America's Covert Border War: The Untold Story of the Nation's Battle to Prevent Infiltration jihadist
, offers the figures arguing that the influx of migrants is not a consequence of the bus program of the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott.
A family of migrants shows their documentation to security guards at the Roosevelt Hotel, Tuesday, January 9, 2024, in New York City. Mary Altaffer / AP
"The program is not 'treason,'" Reichlin-Melnick stressed in response to posts on X that echoed Trump and Musk's alarm.
"It is completely legal. The Immigration and Nationality Act gives the Administration the ability to admit people for humanitarian reasons. It has been used by every president (Democratic and Republican) since the law was passed in 1952, except Trump."
Regarding Musk's statements, describing immigrants as a national threat, the lawyer highlighted that they
are all investigated before being approved.
And in response to the fact that they are supposed “voters” that the White House has brought in, Reichlin-Melnick stressed that, although they enter the country legally, they cannot vote.
"There is absolutely no evidence that non-citizens vote in significant numbers in American elections."