BPR "On Fox & Friends Thursday, Steve Doocy defended his son, Peter, after the Fox News White House correspondent questioned President Joe Biden on rumors of massive cash payouts to illegal immigrants who had once been separated from family members at the southern border.
"Peter Doocy cited an October Wall Street Journal report that alleged as much, the nature of which Biden evidently believes is “garbage.”
" 'About the way, forward, Mr. President,” said Doocy, “as you were leaving for your overseas trip, there were reports that that were surfacing that your administration is planning to pay illegal immigrants who were separated from their parents at the border up to $450,000 each, possibly a million dollars per family. Do you think that might incentivize more people to come over illegally?”
“ 'If you guys keep sending that garbage out, yeah,” said the president. “But it’s not true.”
"Doocy followed up and asked if what the WSJ published was a “garbage report.”
" 'Yeah,” replied Biden.
The president then curiously asked about the actual dollar amount, which Doocy confirmed was reportedly $450,000 with the possibility of perhaps up to $1M per family.
“ 'That’s not gonna happen,” Biden said in response, though it is not certain if the president meant it wasn’t going to happen at all, or if he was simply denying the exact dollar amount as a way of dodging the larger question.
"Steve Doocy then pointed to an official statement from ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero, wherein the organization contends that Biden is either unaware of what his administration is doing, or he is breaking an elemental campaign promise, or both:". . .
Biden's $450,000 'garbage' . . . "Here's the Oct. 28 Wall Street Journal report which Biden effectively called "garbage":
WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is in talks to offer immigrant families that were separated during the Trump administration around $450,000 a person in compensation, according to people familiar with the matter, as several agencies work to resolve lawsuits filed on behalf of parents and children who say the government subjected them to lasting psychological trauma.
The U.S. Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services are considering payments that could amount to close to $1 million a family, though the final numbers could shift, the people familiar with the matter said. Most of the families that crossed the border illegally from Mexico to seek asylum in the U.S. included one parent and one child, the people said. Many families would likely get smaller payouts, depending on their circumstances, the people said.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents families in one of the lawsuits, has identified about 5,500 children separated at the border over the course of the Trump administration, citing figures provided to it by the government. The number of families eligible under the potential settlement is expected to be smaller, the people said, as government officials aren’t sure how many will come forward. Around 940 claims have so far been filed by the families, the people said.
The total potential payout could be $1 billion or more. , ,
. . . " Never mind that the original report came not from some blog but from the Wall Street Journal. It's "garbage," Joe says. Move along.
"Yet House Republicans are taking action to stop it." . . .