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(CNSNews.com) - If President Biden's National Security Advisor is concerned about the unprecedented number of illegal border crossers in recent days, he didn't show it on Monday.
Jake Sullivan talked about an "orderly and humane" process that will "protect our national security concerns."
The situation at the border, however, is anything but "orderly and humane," with thousands of people streaming across in just the past two days. El Paso and Eagle Pass, Texas, are overwhelmed.
A reporter asked Sullivan about the court-ordered expiration of Title 42 on December 21, next Wednesday. Title 42 is the COVID-related public health measure that has allowed Border Patrol agents to immediately expel some illegal immigrants. "Are there national security concerns over the Title 42 expiration?" the reporter asked.
"So, the team has been working very hard to ensure that we are taking steps to be able to manage the expiration of Title 42 and to put in place a process that will be orderly and humane," Sullivan responded.
"And we believe that in doing so we can protect our national security concerns. That is a process that others can speak to better than I can.
"But from my perspective, the issues related to ensuring an orderly, humane migration process at the border are being persistently and constantly addressed through the inter-agency process. And we are working through what the procedures will be in place at the moment of expiration on the 21st.”
The reporter followed up: "Do you have a sense of how many people crossing the border that the U.S. government has no idea — like estimates of how many people crossing aren’t giving their name, aren’t giving IDs, aren’t able to verify who they are?"
"So, we do have estimates of how many encounters there are at the border on a daily basis. We have processes and procedures in place to identify those individuals, to process them in an orderly fashion, and then to do what is appropriate based on that processing.
“And we have believed that that system is a system that does an effective job of being able to determine who is coming across the border and what the right way to deal with their case is."
Those were the only border-related questions asked at Monday's White House press briefing.
President Biden has not commented on the deepening crisis at the southwest border. But on Monday, he did release a statement on the "bicentennial of United States-Mexico bilateral relations," which read in part:
"As the closest of neighbors and friends, we share a set of values that form the root of our strength. We share an enduring commitment to freedom, democracy, and rule of law. And we share a strong and deepening economic and security partnership that has made North America the most competitive and dynamic region in the world."