Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., told Newsmax on Tuesday that he's eager to see how the administration of President Joe Biden answers the United States Supreme Court's stay on ending the pandemic-era Title 42 removal of illegal migrants at the southern border as that law is the "only tool" Customs and Border Protection agents have left to stem the tide of illegal crossings.
"This is the only tool in the toolbox that border control agents have to send people back to where they came from," Comer said on "Wake Up America." "We all know that the border policy for Joe Biden is an open border policy."
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday issued a stay on eliminating Title 42, a regulation implemented by former President Donald Trump in 2020 to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus by enabling CBP to deport some illegal migrants in the interest of public health, CNN reported.
Roberts gave the administration until this afternoon to officially respond to the stay and give its reasons for ending the policy.
The high court initially sought to end the regulation Wednesday, citing the end of the pandemic in the U.S., but was challenged by several border states saying that ending the rule would lead to a larger surge of illegal migrants coming across the border.
According to CBP, some 2.4 million illegals came across the border in fiscal year 2022, and tens of thousands more are preparing to enter if Title 42 ends.
"This is costing the taxpayers billions and billions of dollars when you look at Medicaid costs, housing costs, public education costs, shelter costs, travel costs, and yet this administration wants to do everything in its ability to try to get more people to cross the border," Comer said.
"They have turned the border patrol into the welcoming committee, and I'm just glad that the American people are going to get to see, in writing, what the Biden administration's excuses to eliminate Title 42 are at a time when they still are allowing a significant percentage of the federal workforce to work from home because of COVID."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday that reports of tens of thousands of illegal migrants preparing to enter the country when Title 42 ends were "misinformation" being put out by "smugglers," and that those repeating such claims were aiding that effort.
"We know smugglers will try to spread misinformation to take advantage of these vulnerable migrants," Jean-Pierre said. "The removal of Title 42 does not mean the border is open. Anyone who suggests otherwise is simply doing the work of these smugglers who are spreading misinformation, which is very dangerous."
Comer said Biden has to take responsibility for the situation at the border and that his border policies are a "joke."
"This is Joe Biden's crisis and Joe Biden has to own it," Comer said.
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