Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Fox News Flash

Former Border Patrol chief brands Biden's proposed payments to illegal immigrants as 'ludicrous'

Host Rachel Campos-Duffy said she is worried the plan will 'incentivize' more illegal immigration

Graham Colton By Graham Colton Fox News
Published
close
'This is ludicrous': Rodney Scott Video

'This is ludicrous': Rodney Scott

Former Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott lays down the law on the Biden administration's proposed payments to illegal immigrants on 'Fox News Primetime.'

Former Border Patrol czar Rodney Scott called the Biden administration's proposed $450,000 payments to illegal immigrants who were separated from their family at the southern border during former President Trump's administration "ludicrous" Thursday on "Fox News Primetime." Such a sum could exceed that made to Gold Star families and families of 9/11 victims.

"This is ludicrous," he said. "Anybody could file a lawsuit, but there's no reason the federal government should be settling this lawsuit."

REPORTED BIDEN PLAN TO PAY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS $450K COULD SURPASS PAYMENTS TO SOME 9/11, MILITARY FAMILIES

Host Rachel Campos-Duffy explained that she is "worried that this is going to incentivize parents in other countries to do something very irresponsible, which is to bring their children on this journey."

"It's like, crime pays," she added.

  • Image 1 of 3

    A crowd watches as former U.S. President Donald Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott visit an unfinished section of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in Pharr, Texas, U.S. June 30, 2021.   (REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare)

  • Image 2 of 3

    Cristhian Rivera, 24, accused of killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, looks to his attorney Allan Richards, as he makes his initial appearance at the Poweshiek County Courthouse in Montezuma, Iowa, U.S., August 22, 2018.     (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette/Pool via REUTERS)

  • Image 3 of 3

    U.S. Border Patrol officers walk along the perimeter fence near the International Bridge between Mexico and the U.S., where migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. are waiting to be processed, in Del Rio, Texas, U.S., September 20, 2021.  (REUTERS/Marco Bello)

Scott added that he is "worried about the pull factors," predicting migrants will get the message that illegal immigrants are being rewarded with $450,000 each. 

The former Border Patrol chief, who served under both President Trump and Biden, called the payout "very demoralizing and…very frustrating" for Border Patrol agents.

Scott warned of "real threats coming into this country between the borders because the agents are simply overwhelmed."

"They understand what it takes to identify trafficking of human beings," he said.

Recently, an illegal immigrant in Florida who lied about being a minor was arrested for murder, a crime that could have been prevented if there were fewer than "600 kids a day crossing the border," Scott said. He explained that agents "don't have the time to dig in and figure…out" immigrants' statuses, which they find "very frustrating because they want to preserve life."

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

"They want to preserve the safety [of] the border, and they're there to serve," he said. "And when they feel like their hands are tied and they're just stuck processing people [who] are going to get released, it's very demoralizing."

Graham Colton is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to graham.colton@fox.com and on Twitter: @GrahamGColton.