President Joe Biden will spend the weekend at his beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware, after forcing asylum workers along the southern border to work both weekend days to deal with the influx of migrants after the end of the Title 42 public health order.
On Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre announced that Saturday morning the president will deliver the commencement address at Howard University in Washington, DC.
“The president will then travel to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he and the first lady will be staying over the weekend,” she said.
The announcement comes after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) forces asylum officers to work through the weekend in a bid to deal with the influx of migrants at the southern border seeking asylum in the United States, Fox News Digital exclusively learned on Friday. .
A DHS memo sent Friday morning by the Associate Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Refugee, Asylum and International Operations (RAIO) and seen by Fox News Digital says employees were notified Thursday of the need for them to work at least one day this weekend – and now the agency is taking it even further.
BIDEN DHS FORCING ASYLUM OFFICERS TO WORK BOTH WEEKEND DAYS AS ADMINISTRAL STRUGGLES TO HANDLE MIGRANT OVERFLY
President Joe Biden leaves after services at St. Edmond’s Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, April 15, 2023. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
“Developments during the day made it clear that more resources are needed, and we must take immediate action to increase the number of staff available on Saturday and Sunday to meet needs,” he said. .
“In order to ensure full operational readiness, I must now direct all employees of the Asylum Division, with a few exceptions, to work Saturday and Sunday this weekend,” Associate Director Ted said. Kim.
The memo says the only positions exempted will be those that do not provide direct support for the ‘credible fear’ process – in which migrants seeking asylum first establish that they have a credible fear of persecution. if they are sent back to their country of origin.
DHS OFFICIALS ADMIT TO SCREENING REPORTERS’ QUESTIONS AT BORDER, BUT NO LONGER DO IT
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The unusual mandate comes a few hours after the Title 42 Public Health Order on the southern border ended with the national COVID-19 emergency on Thursday evening. The order has been in place since March 2020 and has enabled the rapid deportation of migrants at the southern border.
FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FROM RELEASING MIGRANTS WITHOUT HEARING DATE AS TITLE 42 EXPIRES
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during a press conference Wednesday, May 10, 2023, ahead of the lifting of Title 42. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
The expiration had raised expectations of a mammoth surge at the border as migrants believe they are more likely to be admitted to the United States – a claim DHS has repeatedly disputed.
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Border Patrol agents encountered more than 10,000 migrants per day for at least three days this week so far, with several sectors facing overcapacity. The agency sought to release migrants in the interior without a court date, but was blocked by a court order issued on Thursday evening.