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Marjorie Taylor Greene falsely claims 'all those illegals' are celebrating with 'big barbacoas' on the border while thousands of migrant children are being detained

Mar 12, 2021, 20:46 IST
Business Insider
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wears a "Free Speech" face mask as she walks through the halls of Congress, tailed by reporters, on February 2, 2021.Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images
  • Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene falsely accused undocumented immigrants of hosting "big barbacoas" at the border.
  • She is echoing GOP talking points raising alarm about the influx of migrants crossing the border.
  • The Biden administration is reversing many of Trump's harsh anti-immigrant policies.
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Georgia Republican who has embraced conspiracy theories, falsely accused undocumented immigrants of hosting "big barbacoas" on the border to celebrate President Joe Biden.

"Hey @JoeBiden, all those illegals you are welcoming in our country are having big barbacoas right now at our border," she tweeted on Thursday night. "They aren't waiting until July 4th like you want legal American taxpayers to do, if they get the vaccine. You also forgot to thank President Trump for the shot!"

Republican lawmakers have focused their messaging on the recent surge in migrants crossing the US-Mexico border, returning to former President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant playbook. They're attempting to raise alarm about "super-spreader caravans" of immigrants in much the same way that Trump wildly exaggerated the threat of violent "caravans" of criminals looking to invade the country.

And they're blaming Biden's reversal of Trump's harsh anti-immigrant policies for the influx in unaccompanied migrant children who've crossed the border in recent weeks. Thousands of migrant children have been detained under Biden's new administration and the surge is causing delays in transferring the kids from federal facilities meant for adults to Department of Health and Human Services shelters.

The Biden administration is loosening Trump's restrictions on refugees and asylum seekers, expanding family-based immigration, creating a pathway to citizenship and permanent residence for millions of undocumented foreign workers, and reducing mass deportations. Biden has also reversed Trump's "remain in Mexico" policy, which barred refugees and asylum seekers from staying in the US while their claims are processed and forced thousands into dangerous and squalid camps in Mexico.

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White House chief of staff Ron Klain said recently that the Biden administration "inherited a real mess" on the border and seeks to implement a more "humane" set of policies to deal with it.

Biden pledged during a national address on Thursday night to make COVID-19 vaccines available to all adult Americans by May 1. And he said he expects the country to return to something resembling normal life by July 4, when he'll encourage small family gatherings.

"July 4th with your loved ones is the goal," the president said.

While Greene claimed that undocumented immigrants aren't "waiting until July 4th" to gather, she and other Republican lawmakers have aggressively resisted and undermined federal health officials' guidelines on gatherings, mask-wearing, social distancing, and other COVID-19 mitigation practices. Greene has called masks "oppressive" and long called for states to fully reopen. She's held her own gatherings, including her election victory party and town halls, with little regard for virus safety measures.

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