White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre got a little testy when she was confronted about a statement she made regarding illegal border crossings.
Fox News’ Peter Doocy brought up a statistic she cited during her press briefing on Monday.
“You said yesterday that when it comes to illegal migration, you’ve seen it come down by more than 90%,” Doocy noted on Tuesday.
He asked, “Where did that number come from? Because CBP is telling us the number is 136,000 people more this fiscal year so far.”
As he continued speaking, Jean-Pierre began to respond and spoke over him as she said, “I was speaking… I hear you. I’m about to answer. I’m about to answer you. If you… if the dramatics could come down just a little bit.”
“What’s dramatic about asking a question…” Doocy responded.
The press secretary interrupted him as she said, “I’m going to answer. So I was speaking to the parolee program. As you know the president put in place a parolee program to deal with certain countries on ways that we can limit illegal migration.”
“And we have seen, the data has shown us, that it has gone by more than 90%. That was what I was speaking to,” she added.
Watch the video below:
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?"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 2, 2023
KJP: "If the dramatics could come down just a little bit…The president put in place a parolee program…the data has shown us it has… pic.twitter.com/1rdryjDJZH
When Doocy attempted to ask a follow-up question, Jean-Pierre said, “No, we’re gonna go. We’re going to move… We’re moving, Peter.”
During a press briefing on Monday, Jean-Pierre insisted, “[President Joe Biden] has tools that he’s used to make sure we do this. We actually deal with the immigration system in a humane way, in a way that actually deals with what we’re seeing at the border.”
“And that’s why you’ve seen the parolee program be so successful. When it comes to illegal immigration, you’ve seen it come down by more than 90%. And that’s because of this, the actions that this president has taken,” she claimed.
Her comments sparked much consternation online as it was not clear what she was referring to. Overall, the number of border crossings has not dropped by anywhere near 90%.
She did reference a parole program for migrants. Axios explained, “The policy offers legal entry into the U.S. under humanitarian parole for up to 30,000 migrants and asylum seekers a month from Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba — in addition to Venezuela.”
“The short-term fix allows people to enter the country, but parolees have to opt-in to a complicated legal process if they intend to stay legally,” it added.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration said a similar policy resulted in a 90% reduction in illegal border crossings of Venezuelans.
So now we know where Jean-Pierre got the “more than 90%” statistic from. But her comment was not really clear she was referring to countries the parole program covers. Instead, her statement appeared to be more broad.
And the White House transcript does not reflect an attempt to clarify her comment to point to the parole program.
Even for people who are supposed to be communication professionals, misspeaks and awkward sentences happen. But there is no need to get fussy about it when it looks like you completely fabricated a statistic because of your comments.
