White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was forced to explain to a Fox News reporter that a governor doesn’t have the right to throw immigrants on a bus and ship them out of state.
Fox News’s Peter Doocy thought he was being clever when he asked about Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) statement that he would be “providing charter buses to send these illegal immigrants… to Washington, D.C.”
Related: Jen Psaki turns table on reporter trying to link Biden to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill
“Now that the Texas governor is saying that he’s going to start busing border crossers to Washington, D.C., when they get here, are you guys going to help them find a place to stay and something for them to do?” Doocy asked. The implication is that the Biden administration, which has a more liberal view of immigration policy than Gov. Abbott does, is hypocritical because they are not personally dealing with each individual immigrant.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
“Well, I’m not aware of what authority the governor would be doing that under,” Psaki responded dryly before explaining something that Doocy did not appear to understand: “I think it’s pretty clear this is a publicity stunt.”
“His own office admits that a migrant would need to voluntarily be transported and that he can’t compel them to. Because again, enforcement of our country’s immigration laws lies with the federal government, not a state.”
“You don’t think people want to visit Washington, D.C.?” Doocy said, getting cute.
“Well, listen, I don’t know, but I know that the governor of Texas or any state does not have the legal authority to compel anyone to get on a bus,” Psaki said before moving on to more serious questions.
Psaki: I know that The Governor of Texas or any state does not have the legal authority to compel anyone to get on a bus pic.twitter.com/U3SoC1iPjB
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 7, 2022
