When White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders contended during an appearance onFox News Sundaythat many terrorists illegally enter the U.S., anchor Chris Wallacewas quick to cut inwith a clarification.
In an interview about the ongoing government shutdown, Sanders, 36, told Wallace, 71, that “nearly 4,000 known or suspected terrorists come into our country illegally, and we know that our most vulnerable point of entry is at our southern border.”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,” Wallace interrupted.
“I know this statistic,” he told her. “I didn’t know if you were going to use it, so I studied up on this. Do you know where those 4,000 people … where they’re captured? Airports.”
“Not always,” Sanders replied.
“The State Department says there haven’t been any terrorists that they’ve found coming across the border,” Wallace continued. (Accordingto an NBC News report on Monday, federal immigration officials “encountered only six immigrants on the U.S-Mexico border in the first half of fiscal year 2018 whose names were on a federal government list of known or suspected terrorists.”)
Sanders made her assertion to defend the shutdown as a result of PresidentDonald Trump‘s calls for funding for a wall separating the U.S. from Mexico. Sanders said the proposed barrier was only one part of a broader White House push to change the immigration system.
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“But they’re not coming across the southern border, Sarah,” Wallace pressed on. “They’re coming, and they’re being stopped at airports.”
Wallace’s point about the frequent use of airports as a point of entry comes amid increased scrutiny of how the shutdown may be affecting airport workers.
Employees of the Transportation Security Administration have been required to keep working without pay, which has resulted in more of them allegedly calling in sick,CNNreported on Friday — noting a lack of agents could result in a lapse of security.
Department of Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Q. Houlton went on todeny the report.
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According to CNN, there’s been a 200-300 percent increase in agents calling out sick at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and throughout the first week of January as many as 170 agents called out at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport each day.
TSA went on to issue their own statement, acknowledging that while theamount of call outs “have increased,”the safety of screening processes has not been affected.
“Call outs began over the Holiday period and have increased, but are causing minimal impact given there are 51,739 employees supporting the screening process,” the statement read. “Security effectiveness will not be compromised and performance stands will not change.”
Additionally, TSA reported that so far screening wait times continue to be “well within” their standards.
Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in 2017.Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House press secretary, speaks during a White House press briefing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2017. Sanders said President Donald Trump could benefit from some of the business provisions in the tax bill that could be headed for his signature this week. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Because negotiations over funding the border wall have been fruitless so far, this shutdown could become the longest in American history, surpassing the previous record of 21 days in the ’90s, underPresident Bill Clintonand a Republican-led Congress,according to CNN.
On Friday, President Trump said the funding freeze could last for months —“even years.”
He tweeted Sundayabout a “productive meeting”with Democratic lawmakers in Congress and said that he has shifted his position from a concrete wall to a “steel barrier.”
Democrats, however, said there had been no forward movement in resolving the shutdown,theNew York Timesreports.
The earliest affected employees would be paid would be around Jan. 25,according to CBS News.
“We had federal employees who were literally taking Christmas presents that were wrapped and ready to give, and taking them back to the store,” Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, told the network. “They were hunkering down for lean times.”
source: people.com
