Sen. Cassidy: Biden policies 'entirely' to blame for border surge
Sen. Cassidy on coronavirus relief bill, migrant surge at border
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., tells ‘Fox News Sunday’ why he voted against the $1.9 trillion stimulus. He also argues it is ‘unmistakable’ that Biden’s policies are driving the surge of migrants at the border.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., blames President Biden for the surge of migrants that have presented a crisis at the U.S. southern border.
February saw the largest number of unaccompanied minors apprehended at the border since May 2019. "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace asked Cassidy to what degree Biden's policies have caused this.
"Empirically it is entirely. You can't help but notice that the administration changes and there is a surge," Cassidy said.
The senator recalled hearing one of Biden's advisers said in Spanish that the border was not closed, only to then say in English that she misspoke.
"I can tell you the Spanish version is being heard, not the English," he said, claiming that this message emboldens people to send their children, even if it means putting them at risk.
"And so when people think they can get in," Cassidy claimed, "they begin sending their unaccompanied child on a trainride across Mexico where she may be kidnapped and trafficked, on the hope that they're going to be waved through at the border."
The Biden administration has refused to characterize the situation at the border as a "crisis," despite calling on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support a "government-wide effort" to house child migrants as numbers continue to spike.
FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, file photo, a migrant family crosses the border into El Paso, Texas, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez, File) ((AP Photo/Christian Chavez, File))
Cassidy said this is evidence that the administration expects the number of unaccompanied children to continue to grow.
"They're sending FEMA for reinforcements -- not for today, not for tomorrow, but for three weeks from now," he said.
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Earlier in the interview, Cassidy addressed the issues he has with the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that the Senate passed earlier this month. He asserted that there is too much money going towards goals that are not really about pandemic relief.
"The money that is there for education will be spent in the out years," the senator explained. "That's not related to COVID. If everybody is vaccinated by June then it's clearly not related to COVID."
Cassidy also said that while he and other Republicans support stimulus payments "for people who needed it," the Democrats' bill does much more than that. He noted that stimulus checks are going to people including inmates who do not stimulate the economy and who are already supported by taxpayers.
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"That's the sort of thing that should not be included," he said.
As for small businesses, Cassidy claimed that there is still enough money from the last relief bill to go towards the Paycheck Protection Program.
"The dollars are there now for the need which is there now," he said.
Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
