Ernst Joins America Reports to Discuss Ongoing Border Crisis, Push for Answers on Biden’s Chaotic Afghanistan Withdrawal
The Iowa senator will question Gen. Mark Milley and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal at tomorrow’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate, joined John Roberts and Sandra Smith on America Reports to discuss the ongoing crisis at the southern border and her push for answers on President Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Ernst’s interview.
Ernst on Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas admitting that 12,000 Haitian migrants were released into the United States from the southern border:
“I’m extremely concerned about it…Will they return for a court hearing? That is the big question…This will continue going forward until this administration secures the border.”
Ernst on White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s characterization of the border crisis as “cyclical:”
“This is a debacle. Yet, another one of the crises created by President Biden and this Administration…And their unwillingness to secure the border has created this challenge that we see with thousands and thousands upon thousands of illegal immigrants coming to the southern border…They need to secure it. They need to continue with many of the polices that were put in place during the past administration, like the Remain in Mexico Policy…Joe Biden hasn’t been to the border at all, and Kamala Harris barely touched ground there. So they need to go see firsthand what is going on. It is a humanitarian crisis—one that is devastating. And to continue encouraging people to flow to our southern border with the promise of entering into the United States is absolutely ridiculous. We cannot sustain this.”
Ernst on Mayorkas’ insistence that the southern border is “not open” amid the ongoing influx of migrants into the United States:
“That is a message…Come to the United States. We’ll do a quick survey of you, and then release you into the United States. And we know from past experiences that many of those who are even given a notice to report, they don’t show up at their court date. They’re just free to roam in the United States…So it is an encouragement for people to just show up. … Any changes to immigration don’t matter when you have a porous border, and that’s exactly what this administration is encouraging.”
Ernst on tomorrow’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing about Afghanistan:
“Certainly what we want to find out is: Did the president really know and understand the ramifications of the withdrawal? What was the advice that was given by our top military commanders to the president, and was it censured by his political advisement team? So what were the ramifications to not only those that were serving in uniform in Afghanistan, but the civilians that we had on the ground in Afghanistan, and of course the innocent Afghans that stood by our side for the past 20 years? We want to know, who knew what, when—and why were those decisions made?”
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