Orioles legend Jim Palmer: 'Open borders are detrimental' to safety of US

Baltimore Orioles legend Jim Palmer said on X, formerly Twitter, that it took him less than two weeks to get a new passport and pointed to the Biden administration's handling of the U.S. southern border as the reason.

The Hall of Famer wrote that it usually takes four to six weeks but that because of the issues at the border, it was quicker.

"Amazing fact. My US passport was about to expire, sent it in expedited, normally 4-6 weeks, came back in 11 days. I guess they’re not doing much passport business at our southern border," Palmer wrote on Wednesday.

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Former Baltimore Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer said he got his passport in less than two weeks. (G Fiume/Getty Images)

Palmer's post was criticized by a fellow X user who said Palmer "could've stayed classy" and "non-political which would've kept you beloved by almost all baseball fans instead of doing this for what'll be a few hundred cheap likes."

But Palmer said the post was not for likes but to share his legitimate concerns.

"I am allowed to have an opinion," Palmer replied. "My opinion is open borders are detrimental to our countries (sic) safety. I would say the same thing if we had open borders when Trump was president."

Another user replied to Palmer by saying he became an Orioles fan in 1970 "because of" Palmer, but with Palmer's border criticism, he is dropping his fandom.

Jim Palmer's tweet about his passport sparked backlash on social media. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

"54 yrs destroyed by one tweet!" said Darrell Barnes.

Palmer responded, "You can still be a O’s fan. Great young team. And they all may be for open borders. Just dislike me."

Palmer won three Cy Young Awards and three World Series before being inducted into Cooperstown in 1990. He pitched to a 2.86 ERA, spending his entire 19-year career in Baltimore.

Hall of Famer Jim Palmer (Bob Levey/Getty Images)

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Sources with U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Fox News Digital last week that migrant encounters hit 300,000 incidents in December 2023, reaching a level thought unimaginable just a few years ago. It is the highest total for a single month ever recorded and also the first time migrant encounters have exceeded 300,000.

"No, it’s not," Biden told Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich last week when asked if the border was secure. "I haven’t believed it for the last 10 years. And I’ve said it for the last 10 years. … Give me the money."