In August, Tell Dylan was contacted by an immigration attorney who had a question for U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin).
“Someone needs to ask Johnson about this. He blamed Biden’s ‘open border policy’ for the death of migrants in San Antonio, Texas, who were trapped in a semi-trailer in 100 degree heat after illegally crossing the [U.S. Mexico] border,” wrote the attorney, who requested he remain anonymous. “If our borders are so open, why would migrants subject themselves to such horrific conditions in order to gain entry into this country?”
Tell Dylan had a chance to ask Johnson that question at the annual GOP Chicken Burn event in Wauwatosa on Aug. 28.
“The borders are obviously open,” Johnson responded, before talking about the migrants who died in San Antonio. “It didn’t involve guns but it was mass murder.”
A Johnson campaign radio ad that was supposed to hit the airwaves this summer had the same message.
“The latest mass murder in America didn’t involve guns,” said Johnson in the radio ad. “Fifty-three people, including five children, were murdered by human traffickers because Joe Biden’s open border policy is facilitating the multibillion-dollar business model of some of the most evil people on the planet.”
The Intercept first reported that Johnson’s campaign scrambled to pull that ad before it started airing because of the July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois. The online news outlet obtained emails confirming the ad was yanked because of “the nature of the message and how it’s a little too close to the mass shooting events over the weekend.”
Back in Wauwatosa, Johnson’s explanation of Biden’s “open border policy” took a confusing turn.
“The borders are 100 percent closed on the Mexican side. That’s true,” Johnson said. “You do not cross over until you are paying the human trafficking fee or basically subject yourself to human servitude to get through.”
Wait, the borders are “obviously open” under Biden’s immigration policy but also “100 percent closed on the Mexican side” unless a migrant pays to be smuggled in? The Johnson campaign didn’t directly address this contradiction in a follow-up email to clarify the senator’s comments.
When informed of Johnson’s response, the immigration attorney who initially contacted Tell Dylan had this to say: “We detain migrants and summarily deport them unless they can pass through a complex asylum screening process. I guess that’s what Johnson considers to be Biden’s open border policy.”
