Amid a nationwide shortage of baby formula, a Republican lawmaker is claiming that illegal immigrants detained by the border patrol are being given priority over Americans.
Republican Rep. Kat Cammack (FL) posted videos on social media as she claimed the Biden administration is shipping “pallets” of baby formula to border facilities.
“They are sending pallets, pallets of baby formula to the border,” Cammack said in online postings on Wednesday. “Meanwhile, in our own district at home, we cannot find baby formula,” she added, displaying a photo that showed empty store shelves.
Cammack said a border agent has been sending her photos of the deliveries of baby formula. “They’re receiving pallets and more pallets of baby formula at the border,” she said. “This was taken at Ursula processing facility [in McAllen, Texas] where thousands are being housed and processed and then released,” she said.
She said in one message the border agent told her, “‘Kat, you would not believe the shipment I just brought in.’ He has been a border patrol agent for 30 years and he has never seen anything quite like this. He is a grandfather and he is saying that his own children can’t get baby formula.”
“I don’t know about you, but if I am a mother, anywhere, anytime in America, and I go to my local Walmart or Target or Publix or Safeway or Kroger or wherever it may be that you shop and you are seeing bare shelves and you are seeing signs that you are not able to get baby formula. And then you see the American government sending by the pallet thousands and thousands of containers of baby formula to the border, that would make my blood boil,” she said.
“I am so angry about this,” she added. “It is not the children’s fault at all. But what is infuriating to me is that this is another example of the America last agenda that the Biden administration continues to perpetuate.”
The baby formula shortage has forced some parents to drive hours in often futile searches, and the situation might get worse.
“The problem, rooted in the tight supply chain, is exacerbated by a production halt at an Abbott Nutrition facility in Michigan,” CNN reported. “Abbott is seeking to restart the plant after it recalled three popular brands of powdered infant formula in February following reports four infants who ate formula manufactured at the facility got sick with rare infections caused by Cronobacter sakazakii bacteria and died.”
A Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) spokesperson said “CBP takes seriously its legal responsibility to ensure the safety and security of individuals in our custody. Ensuring migrants, including children and infants, in our custody have their basic needs met is in line with this Administration’s commitment to ensuring safe, orderly, and humane processes at our border. CBP complies with all applicable regulations for the purchase of products used in CBP facilities.”
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.