Biden Finally Letting Media Inside Immigration Facility, But There's a Glaring Problem
The Biden administration will let the media accompany a group of White House officials and congressional members to tour a facility holding unaccompanied migrant children in Texas — but not the overcrowded facility that has been seen in disturbing pictures.
The White House said the group will visit a Department of Health and Human Services facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, but only one camera will be allowed in the facility, CNN reported.
The facility is one of many that have been opened to accommodate the influx of child migrants crossing the border.
The Carrizo Springs facility was first opened by the Trump administration in 2019 during the surge of unaccompanied minors crossing the border that year and is intended to shelter children, unlike Border Patrol facilities.
As of Wednesday, there are 810 male minors being housed at the facility, according to CNN.
Due to the high number of unaccompanied minors crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, children have had to stay in Border Patrol facilities for longer than the 72 hours allowed by the law.
The Biden administration is scrambling to find 20,000 beds to shelter the rapid influx of child migrants, Axios reported.
The number of migrant kids crossing the border is on pace to exceed the record by 45 percent and the administration does not have enough beds to shelter them all.
News organizations have been denied access to, or pictures of, the overcrowded border processing facilities holding unaccompanied children, including the newly opened processing facility in Texas, according to NBC News.
Four current and two former Customs and Border Protection officials told NBC that they have been told to deny requests for media “ride-alongs” with agents.
According to one official, some access restrictions can be attributed to precautionary measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although one camera will be allowed on Wednesday’s tour, journalists are still unable to see the overflow facility in Donna, Texas.
Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar’s office released photos from the facility over the weekend showing migrants sitting in crowded quarters, ABC News reported.
“It’s terrible under a regular circumstance, but when you add a pandemic on top of that, those pictures can be disturbing,” the Texas congressman told ABC’s Linsey Davis.
Immigration attorneys added that the facility was overcrowded and children said that they were forced to sleep on the floor, and were granted limited time outside.
The facility is reportedly at 1,556 percent capacity, holding 3,889 migrants, according to internal CBP documents reviewed by the news outlet.
“Are we having a humanitarian crisis trying to take care of these kids? The answer is yes,” Cuellar said.
“This administration has all the good intentions. They want to treat the kids in a humane way … but their good intentions are being overwhelmed by numbers.”
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