One of President Joe Biden's prime immigration advisers, former Ambassador to Mexico, Roberta Jacobson, on Wednesday "mistakenly" told illegal aliens that the United States-Mexico border was not closed.
She made the comments during a press conference at the White House where the growing crisis along the southern border was addresseed.
According to Spectrum White House and immigration reporter Austin Landis, Jacobson said "La frontera no esta cerrada," which translates to "the border is NOT closed." Jacobson corrected herself in Spanish, saying "la frontera esta cerrada," which means the border IS closed.
Ambassador Roberta Jacobson, who oversees the response at the southern border, reiterated that the border is closed and now is not the time to come.
— Austin Landis (@_AustinLandis) March 10, 2021
But when she spoke in Spanish to confirm that message, she said "La frontera no esta cerrada," which means it is NOT closed.
Amb. Jacobson just switched to Spanish again, correcting herself:
— Austin Landis (@_AustinLandis) March 10, 2021
“La frontera está cerrada.”
'"The border is closed." pic.twitter.com/rgSOJExI9n
This may seem like a slip-up but it's a big deal, especially when applied to the Biden administration's lax immigration policies that rolled back Trump-era rules. One of the first policies Biden rescinded once he entered the White House was the deportation of illegal aliens during his first 100 days in office. That decision alone caused a number of illegal aliens to flock to the southern border in hopes of getting into the United States while Biden pressed pause on deportations. An illegal alien inside the country admitted as much.
To compound the situation, Biden also rolled back the Remain in Mexico policy, which required asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their application is reviewed and processed. Both of those policies effectively say "the border is open" without coming out and directly saying so. Throw in the ambassador's "slip-up" and the crisis at the border is going to continue to surge.
