ABC host falsely claims Biden never said ‘come on,’ blames Republicans for border crisis

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ABC News’ Martha Raddatz insisted to Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, on Sunday that President Biden never encouraged migrants to come to the border.

In “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Raddatz spoke with the governor before former President Trump’s Title 42 border policies expired on Wednesday. Cities in Texas, in particular, could see an even larger influx of migrants with El Paso, Texas, which has already declared a state of emergency due to the border crisis.

While Abbott has frequently criticized Biden and other Democratic leaders for encouraging the border crisis, Raddatz argued that Biden himself never encouraged open borders or told migrants to “come.”

“You talk about the border wall, you talk about open borders, I don’t think I’ve ever heard President Biden say, we have an open border, come on,” Raddatz said.

ABC’s Martha Raddatz spoke with Texas Governor Greg Abbott at the border. (ABC)

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Although Raddatz suggested Biden never encouraged the migrant crisis, the president told migrants “you should come” while calling for a more lenient border policy during a 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate.

“They deserve to be heard. This is who we are,” Biden said at the time. “We are a nation that says, ‘You want to run away, and you run away from oppression, you should come.'”

Since then, Biden has explicitly said “don’t come,” although Migrants speaking with ABC said they came “basically” because Biden was elected president. Additionally, exclusive Fox News photos showed images of migrants wearing T-shirts that read “Biden, please let us in.”

Even so, Raddatz suggested that Republicans such as Abbott and Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., were more to blame for making migrants think the borders are open.

March 02, 2021, Mexico, San Ysidro: “Biden, please let us in”, reads in English on the T-shirts of a group of migrants from different backgrounds who went to the international border crossing “El Chaparral” . Migrants were seeking asylum from the new US government. US Border Patrol (CPB) officers carried out a heavier operation at the border crossing in an effort to prevent an attack. Photo: Stringer/dpa (Photo by Stringer/picture alliance via Getty Images)

“People I’ve heard say [the border is open] are you, are you former president trump, ron desantis – that message is resonating in mexico and beyond so they get the message that this is an open border and smugglers are using all these sorts statements,” Raddatz said.

Abbott replied, “Ever since Joe Biden was elected, it was known that Joe Biden supported open borders. Cartels that have sophisticated intelligence know whether or not the Biden administration is going to enforce immigration laws or not. world but best known among cartels.”

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Department of Homeland Security reports estimated that the border could see 9,000 to 15,000 crossings per day after Title 42 expires. Although the White House insisted that preparations were in place for the end policy, the Biden administration has been reluctant to provide specific actions that will be taken.

As a candidate, Joe Biden said migrants “should come” Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, during a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by ABC at Texas Southern University in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Raddatz instead asked Abbott how he himself plans to help the border crisis as opposed to President Biden.

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“How do you play in there? What can you do better? Raddatz asked.

“So all levels of government are doing everything in their power to prevent people from entering the country illegally, or pushing them back or arresting them and putting them behind bars,” Abbott said.

Lindsay Kornick is associate editor of Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @lmkornick.

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