WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) today released the following statement regarding the recent release into Texas of more than 100 illegal immigrants who tested positive for COVID-19 and who are now free to travel anywhere in the country:
“A couple of weeks ago, I wrote to President Biden asking some basic questions about his Administration’s termination of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy and requesting a response by March 1—a response I am still waiting on. In this letter, I expressed the painfully obvious concern that terminating MPP and releasing tens of thousands of migrants into the United States during a global pandemic would lead to migrants with COVID being released into our communities. Unfortunately, this is now happening. Not only does this put Texans at risk, but it exposes Tennessee to similar danger because media reports quote migrants who say they are taking buses from Texas to other states near and far. By immediately returning to catch-and-release policies and rejecting border security measures, President Biden has created a crisis at our southern border that was entirely avoidable—in fact, the crisis had previously been eliminated through programs like MPP. The Administration must take immediate action to prevent this situation from deteriorating further. It is preposterous that while the Biden Administration is criticizing states for relaxing COVID mandates on Americans, the Administration is simultaneously releasing foreign migrants—who are COVID-positive—into American communities.”