Texas sheriff says President Biden is releasing 'thousands' of illegal aliens into the US without COVID-19 tests

Sheriff A.J. Louderback of Jackson County, Texas, said this week that President Joe Biden is releasing illegal immigrants into the U.S. without first subjecting them to a COVID-19 test.

Louderback, who appeared Tuesday on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight," said that it was "absolutely true" that the Biden administration is engaging in such risky behaviors and "essentially" defunding Immigration and Customs Enforcement via memo.

What are the details?

Carlson began his monologue by saying, "Tonight we learned that the Joe Biden administration is releasing thousands of foreign nationals living here illegally into American neighborhoods without bothering to test them for the coronavirus."

He then referred to a video clip featuring an exchange between White House press secretary Jen Psaki and Fox News reporter Kristin Fisher.

In the clip, Fisher can be heard asking Psaki, "What could be done to provide COVID testing to migrants at the border? Because right now, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is saying they're having to catch and release some migrants without giving them any kind of COVID test before they're entering the community. So what is being done? What could be done?"

Psaki responded, "Are you suggesting they're letting people in across the border without testing them? Or, tell me a little bit more about—"

Cutting Psaki off, Fisher continued, "They're being released, they're having to [release them] because of the executive order that the president signed earlier this week."

Clearly confused, Psaki responded, "Which executive [order]? Which one?"

'Releasing people without knowing' if they're infected

Carlson stopped the video and quipped, "Yeah, which one? COVID-infected illegal aliens released into the United States. Whatever. It's not like there's a pandemic. The press secretary didn't care enough to answer the question."

He then said that he'd spoken with Leon Wilmot, sheriff of Yuma County, Arizona, and Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, both of whom reportedly said that illegals were being released without testing.

"[W]e're releasing people without knowing [if they're infected], which puts the public at risk," Judd, along with Wilmot, told the show.

According to the Daily Mail, "Customs and Border Protection announced that some migrants were being released into the United States to await immigration hearings last week, but did not specify how many. The agency cited overflowing detainment facilities as the reason for the releases."

On Tuesday, the New York Times also reported that about 1,000 migrants were released in Texas, with hundreds more in California — but Customs and Border Protection said nothing about whether the released migrants were tested for COVID-19 before their release.

The Daily Mail notes that at least one facility in Laredo, Texas, reported being unable to administer COVID-19 tests because "they had run out."

'It's absolutely true'

Later inviting Louderback to speak, Carlson asked if such reports of were true.

Louderback responded, "It's absolutely true."

"[A] memo that I received this week, it's essentially a 'defunding ICE by memo' ... a memorandum that was sent out by [then-acting Homeland Security Secretary] David Pekoske on Jan. 20 or 21. So this is a particularly devastating document for Texans and Americans here in the United States. The message really has been sent, when I read it first and looked at it, it's a message to the world, you can come here illegally, you could commit crimes here against Americans and remain here illegally."

Carlson responded, "But of all things, the coronavirus, since Americans are now being told in the near future, we may not be allowed to fly on airplanes domestically without being proven free of the virus without a certificate that says we've been tested in our negative, how in a country like that, could we just forget to test illegal aliens for the virus before releasing them? Like how did that happen? Do you know?"

Louderback said he did not know how such a thing could happen, but he believes that it's not entirely unexpected.

"[W]e walked this path and from 2008 to 2016," he responded. "This program that was released by memorandum is very similar to the Priority Enforcement Program in 2014 and 2015, where people were able to commit crimes against Americans. The COVID issue conveniently overlooked during this time. So you know, I struggle for a thought process, like many Americans and Texans, on how the administration can conduct themselves in this manner, and promote a lawless attitude here where people are going to get hurt, seriously injured, killed, and people vowed to stay here, which is unbelievable. Yet here we sit with this situation."

Louderback said that this particular situation would, in his estimation, cause "irreparable harm."

"Every police officer in the United States should be extremely concerned about the attitude, the lawlessness, the complete abject removal of law," he added. "We have a nullification of the law here going on. It's not we're not gonna ... enforce anything, we're going to allow our CBP, our ICE officers, USCIS, all three were affected by this memo, which effectively guts the IMA."

He warned, "The public has no idea, the strength of a memorandum that's been filed here in the United States by this administration."

Texas sheriff claims Biden has 'defunded ICE by memorandum'www.youtube.com

(H/T: The Daily Wire)