White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki objected when Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich’s characterization of the administration’s outreach to Republican lawmakers on immigration.
Immigration has become a much hotter topic recently, as President Joe Biden and his administration brace for an anticipated uptick in migration at the southern border once the lifting of Title 42 takes effect.
At a White House press briefing Monday, Ms. Heinrich asked if there has been recent outreach to Republicans over the White House’s calls to fix the immigration system.
Psaki issued such an invitation from the podium, then objected to Heinrich’s assertion that “the White House is not reaching out” to Republicans:
MS. HEINRICH: Okay. And then, on Title 42, you said over the weekend that the administration agrees more needs to be done; the immigration system is broken. This was in response to a question about –MS. PSAKI: Sure.MS. HEINRICH: — Democrats who don’t want to lift it right now. You invited Republicans to work with the White House to get something done on immigration, but has the White House actually reached out to any Republicans to try to move this forward recently?MS. PSAKI: It has been a longstanding open invitation. Any Republican who wants to work with us on immigration reform, you’re invited; let’s have a conversation. We have not seen an expression of that interest across the board.MS. HEINRICH:
So you’re wanting Republicans to go to you. The White House is not reaching out, then, to any Republicans?MS. PSAKI: We have conversations with Democrats and Republicans all the time, Jacqui. But I think it’s clear what we’re seeing from Republicans is an effort to politicize this and not fix what we all recognize is an outdated and broken system.
Watch above via The White House, NBC News, and Reuters.