Ashley Pratte Oates, an MSNBC guest and NBC contributor, accused Republican governors of playing politics with human lives after border encounters hit a new record high in November.
“It seems like running for president on the Republican ticket in 2024 requires playing politics with human lives,” Oates said during an MSNBC segment hosted by Chris Jansing.
Oates’ criticism comes after three buses carrying migrants from Texas dropped their passengers off at the Naval Observatory, the official residence of Vice President Kamala Harris, Saturday night.
Republican governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona have been busing migrants from their respective states to New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C. since earlier this year.
“Republicans would love to say that they’re pro-life, they only care about children and families when it comes to babies that are in the womb. When they are outside of the womb, look at what happens,” Pratte Oates said. “They’re anti-Obamacare, they’re anti-welfare, they’re anti-humanitarian aid in these situations. And this is a huge problem. But yet Republicans, again, continue to see this as the entry fee to the GOP ticket in 2024. And having a hard stance on immigration is that platform for them. To me on Christmas Eve busing, you know, three busloads of migrants to the Vice President’s House is shameful, it’s disgusting, and it should be called out for what it is.”
The US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) encountered more than 2.3 million migrants in the fiscal year 2022, with an additional 230,000 in October, the first month of the new fiscal year, according to official figures. It was reported that another 600,000 migrants evaded CBP.
Friday’s release showed that CBP experienced a record of 233,470 people in November.
The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a ruling by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan that would have ended the Trump administration’s use of Title 42 on December 21.
The Title 42 public-health measure has been used to expel illegal immigrants. Congress’ $1.7 trillion spending bill, passed on Friday, also prohibits the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from spending over $1.5 billion to acquire, maintain, or extend border security technology and capabilities. The case is still pending.