It is "incomprehensibly stupid" that the Biden administration is planning to pay illegal immigrants who were separated from their parents $450,000 each, former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday.
"Of course, their whole policy at the southern border has been a disaster from day one," Pence told Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "By implementing what is known as the remain-in-Mexico policy, we reduced illegal immigration by 90%. President Biden rescinded that policy on day one."
Biden, he continued, has "unleashed the worst border crisis in more than 30 years, and it's all been because of his dismantling policies that were working," said Pence.
By doing so, a message is being sent that the border is open to people who are coming into the United States and abusing the asylum system.
"What we have to do is get back to what was working, re-implement the remain-in-Mexico policy, require people to wait in Mexico when they apply for asylum, and let's not be paying millions of dollars a week to pay people not to build the wall," said Pence. "Let's get back to building the wall. That border security worked."
He also commented that while he and former President Donald Trump were in office, the Border Patrol's agents knew they had the administration's support.
"Literally from the outset of this administration, they've been undermining the work the Border Patrol agents do, and they've created this disaster on the border," said Pence.
But under the Trump-Pence administration, "we had solved the crisis of illegal immigration in our southern border, and President Biden and his administration reinvented it." said Pence. "A nation without borders is not a nation. We stood for that principle when we were in office, and the American people expect this administration to stop this nonsense, get back to building the wall and have people remain in Mexico while they apply for asylum, and implement laws in a way that puts the interest of American citizens first."
Pence also commented on the work shortages that are continuing, noting that before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, "we had seen 7 million jobs created in this country."
"We were bringing manufacturing jobs back but we did that by cutting taxes, rolling back regulation, unleashing American energy, and fighting for free and fair trade," he said. "This administration from its very early days has been trying to spend and tax our way back into a growing economy."
Pence added that vaccine mandates are also driving people out of the workforce, and with the impending mandate in New York, people will see a threat to public safety.
"No one should fear losing their job over the decision of whether or not they take a COVID vaccine," he said. "These mandates are wrong and they are driving labor shortages that are driving supply chain issues,and they need to stop and they need to stop now."
Pence also spoke out in favor of Glenn Youngkin in the Virginia governor's race, commenting that the Republican candidate has a "positive vision" for the state, including returning control of education to parents.
He recently visited Loudoun County, Virginia, and said he thanked families there for stepping up to use what they learned.
"I think one of the silver linings of the coronavirus pandemic and the school closures was that parents were able to look over the shoulder of their kids and see what they were learning in the classroom," said Pence, specifically mentioning critical race theory.
"Glenn Youngkin is a candidate that knows that, to parents, education freedom is the pathway forward to educational excellence."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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