White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was “grilled” on the subject of child migrants at the White House press conference on Tuesday, and while she now admits the administration is having difficulty finding room for the hundreds of children coming across the United States’ southern border, she refused to call the issue a “crisis” or confirm the number of children currently being housed in border detention facilities.
As the Daily Wire noted earlier Tuesday, the New York Times issued a blockbuster report late Monday, detailing the burgeoning child migrant issue, claiming that more than 3,000 children are now being held in border facilities — facilities that were “built for adults,” and which appear to be “akin to jails.”
“The number of unaccompanied migrant children detained along the southern border has tripled in the last two weeks to more than 3,250, filling facilities akin to jails as the Biden administration struggles to find room for them in shelters,” The New York Times said.
“The children are being held in facilities, managed by the Customs and Border Protection agency, that were built for adults,” the outlet continued. “The border agency has been the subject of widespread criticism for the horrific conditions in its federal detention facilities, in which children are exposed to disease, hunger, and overcrowding.”
In a separate report, in USA Today, the mainstream press also acknowledged that the Biden administration is removing children from the custody of parents and relatives while they assess asylum and relationship claims.
“The migrant children often arrive with a grandparent, older sibling, or other relative but are separated until federal officials can confirm the accompanying adult is their relative, as required under U.S. law,” that report noted. “But it also classifies the youngsters as ‘unaccompanied minors’ and places them in federal shelters until a sponsor or adult is vetted, a process that can take several weeks or even months.”
Psaki refused to corroborate that information, however, according to The Guardian, which has followed the story.
“White House press secretary Jen Psakiwas grilled on the situation at the U.S.-Mexican border, as the number of unaccompanied migrant children trying to enter the country has surged,” the Guardian noted following Tuesday’s press conference. “Psaki refused to confirm reports that more than 3,000 migrant children are being detained along the southern border.”
She also continued to refuse to call the issue a “crisis,” now saying that the Biden administration would prefer to resist “labels.”
Psaki did finally say, however, that there are more minors coming across the border than the Biden administration currently has room for, implicitly confirming reports that the Biden administration has been informed that the surge will quickly overwhelm existing facilities. Psaki said they are working on other ways to address the migrant influx, beyond reopening detention centers.
“We’re also looking for ways we can expedite the way we vet and process families and sponsor-host families – where these kids can go,” she said.
The Biden administration is still reportedly considering all options, however. Reports from last week indicated that they were even toying with the idea of reopening a Health and Human Services-run facility that was the subject of intense protest in 2019, including by now-Vice President Kamala Harris.
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