In an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, President Joe Biden denied that the perception that he is softer than his predecessor has contributed to a surge of migrants at the border with Mexico. A lot of people who are well disposed to the president — including Democratic Representative Don Beyer of Virginia and Juliette Kayyem, an official in the administration of former President Barack Obama — have said that he’s wrong about that.
Kayyem says that smugglers have exaggerated how welcoming Biden is. But it’s not just a matter of rumor. Alan Bersin, Obama’s first-term appointee to run the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, says that “for unaccompanied children and families with children under 6, the border is open.”
