The controversial Kennedy, who is campaigning to win the Democrat ticket to run for President instead of Biden, described the migrants as “illegal immigrants” – even though they had apparently used a “lawful pathway” to enter the US.
The Department for Homeland Security (DSS) has said that “the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to expanding lawful pathways” has “denied smugglers the opportunity to exploit” tens of thousands of people.
On September 15, RFK Jr “celebrated” Hispanic Heritage Month by premiering ‘Midnight at the Border’ – a 19-minute documentary film about his visit to the Arizona-California border with Mexico. His website says he is “challenging Biden’s open border policy on humanitarian grounds”.
RFK Jr claims these policies have “enriched the murderous drug cartels to the detriment of migrants”. He said: “I witnessed this dystopian nightmare of this uncontrolled flow of desperate humanity crossing the border and converging here because of misbegotten policies by high leadership of the United States and landing in Yuma, Arizona.
“After visiting the border I’ve come to understand that the open border policy is just a way of funding a multi-billion dollar drug and human trafficking operation for the Mexican drug cartels.
“When I am President, I will secure the border which will end the cartel’s drug trafficking economy, and I will build wide doors for those who wish to enter legally so that the United States can continue to be a beacon to the world where diversity and culture make us great.”
However, on Monday (September 25) he blasted the Biden administration’s program that is designed to reduce illegal border crossings. On X (formerly Twitter), RFK Jr said: “Apparently, illegal immigrants have been flying directly into the US on commercial aircraft without even having to cross the border. 200,000 in the last year.”
He continued: “They do it through the Biden admin’s CBP One app. It is meant for asylum seekers. That might be a good idea if we had enough asylum judges to process them. Instead, they get a court date years in the future. The system is ripe for abuse.”
RFK’s tweet linked to data the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) said it had obtained from DSS through a Freedom of Information Act request. The CIS said: “The records show that between late October 2022 and mid-September 2023, the administration approved a total of 221,456 Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, and Nicaraguans for ‘travel mode: air’ into still-unspecified interior US ports.”
“The Biden administration did not release the numbers or receiving airports for Colombians or Ukrainians approved to use the direct-flight parole program, which portends much higher total numbers approved to fly in.
“More recently, the administration added Hondurans, El Salvadorans, and Guatemalans to the direct-flight family reunification program, and their numbers also remain unknown.”
“The four nationalities for which data was released, however, probably account for the lion’s share of the total who flew in over the past year and provide a rare initial window into how big the program has become.”
Official Department for Homeland Security (DHS) figures released in July show that “the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to expanding lawful pathways” had enabled “nearly 160,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans” to arrive “lawfully” in the US during a six month period, between January and June, 2023.
The DHS said this “significantly reduced irregular migration and denied smugglers the opportunity to exploit nearly 160,000 individuals who have instead benefitted from safe, orderly and humane pathways”.
It continued: “Since these processes and new enforcement measures began, unlawful encounters at the Southwest Border of individuals from these countries have reduced from a seven-day average of 3,453 encounters in mid-December, to a seven-day average of 394 at the end of June, an 89 percent drop.”
The DSS ‘fact Sheet’ said: “Up to 30,000 individuals per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) who have a US based financial supporter, pass vetting and background checks, and meet other established criteria, may be eligible to come to the United States for a period of two years and receive work authorization.
“Through the end of June 2023, nearly 160,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans had arrived lawfully under the parole processes”
The DSS fact sheet goes on to say “there are consequences to irregular migration”. It warns that “smugglers lie to migrants, withholding information about the dangers of crossing the Darien, the dangers of extreme heat, and the consequences of trying to cross into the United States illegally”.
