On Thursday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson stated that the Biden administration should have sent a consistent message that “there is a right way and a wrong way to come here. And if you come here the wrong way, we will send you back.”
Johnson said that the administration is currently sending a message about enforcement.
Co-host Poppy Harlow then asked, “Do you think, though — because the Obama administration was criticized for its deportations by a lot of Democrats — do you think that the Biden administration has been strong enough throughout on sending that message clearly, or have they not and that is why we see the numbers we see now?”
Johnson answered, “Well, first of all, no matter what you do in this space, somebody’s going to be very unhappy, somebody’s going to be very upset and screaming loudly from the right or the left or both. I would like to see, and I would have liked to have seen, throughout the last 2 1/2 years, a consistent message that [is] consistent with our values as Americans. We treat migrants fairly, humanely, but there is a right way and a wrong way to come here. And if you come here the wrong way, we will send you back. When I was in office, I used to go to Central America and hold press conferences highlighting and showing the airplanes coming back that ICE sends back showing people being deported back in their home country. I’d bring the press with me, the local press to see so people can see we’re actually sending people back.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.