The Post and other outlets have reported that Biden feared the “optics” of flying in refugees from Afghanistan amid an influx of migrants at the U.S. southern border. These are entirely separate issues, with different populations and different legal and vetting systems. Migrants at the southern border show up without permission or advance screening; those fleeing Afghanistan are predominantly people who already had security clearances, who worked in some capacity for the U.S. government and whose families are at risk because they helped us.

Source: Washington Post August 19, 2021 18:57 UTC