During a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, the acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, offered very different numbers for the people affected by the executive order barring travel from certain countries than the White House provided to reporters on Monday.
During a press conference Monday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that only 109 people were impacted by the order at airports over the weekend.
However, Kevin McAleenan, the acting commissioner of the CBP said on Tuesday that the U.S. denied entry to 721 travelers and granted waivers to more than 1,000 people letting them into the U.S. as of Monday. These numbers differ greatly from those Spicer told reporters on Monday.
John Kelly, the secretary of homeland security, attempted to explain the discrepancy to reporters on Tuesday, saying that Spicer was using numbers from “early on” in the implementation of the order. Kelly said that the government can only provide numbers with about 24 hours delay.
McAleenan added he believes the “White House was referring to the initial hours.”
