The White House sent Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to four Sunday news shows to try to explain that it was working to get things under control.
The Biden administration is scrambling to manage a growing humanitarian and political challenge along the US-Mexico border, threatening to derail its ambitious legislative agenda.
With the number of migrants soaring, administration officials say Mr. Biden inherited a volatile situation, resulting in what he says was weak and weak President Donald Trump’s immigration system.
But according to congressional immigration law, illegal minors and families trying to cross the border and seeking asylum and overwhelmed border facilities have begun to dominate the headlines, boosting the recently passed $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 The White House’s efforts to deliver have been distracted. Relief bill.
Mr. Biden told reporters at the White House on Sunday that “at some point” he would go to the border and he knew what was happening in the border facilities.
“A lot, we are in the process of doing it right now, including making sure we already exist what they already were and can make our case from our home countries,” Mr. Biden he said. A weekend at Camp David.
The White House sent Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to four Sunday news shows to try to explain that it was working to get things under control.
“Our message is straightforward – the border is closed,” Mr. Mayorkas said. “We are expelling families. We are expelling single adults. And we have made a decision that we will not expel young, vulnerable children.”
The White House has consistently refused to call the situation a “crisis,” leading to a Washington fight over a suitable description of the tense situation.
In the first days of his term, Mr. Biden acted to undo some of Trump’s measures, a rollback some interpreted as a signal for a trip to the United States. When the new administration was working on immigration legislation to address long-term problems, it did not have a plan on the ground to manage the increase of migrants.
“We have seen a large number of migrations in the past. We know how to address this. We have a plan. We are implementing our plan and we will succeed,” Mr. Mayorkas said.
But, he said, “it takes time” and is “particularly challenging and difficult now” because of the Trump administration’s moves. “So we are rebuilding the system as we address the needs of vulnerable children coming to our borders.” Biden officials have conceived of the “children in the cage” defining Trump family segregation policy – although Mr. Trump used the facilities built during the Obama administration – but struggled with creating the necessary capacity to cope with the increase is.
Officials are trying to build capacity to care for about 14,000 migrants now in federal custody – and more likely on the way. Critics say the administration should have been better prepared.
“I haven’t seen any plans,” the rep said. Michael McCall, R-Texas. “He has created a humanitarian crisis here on this border that you have just seen. And the reason they are coming is because he says words matter, and they do. The message is if you want to come Are, so you can stay. “The administration has also been pressured as to why it will not allow the media to see facilities at the border.
Mr Mayorkas said the government was “working on providing access so that individuals can see what the conditions are at the border station.” But Sen, Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Reported Fox news sunday That “It is rich that Secretary Mayorkas will not let the press trip with him to the border, but he will come to your Sunday morning show and do the same kind of nonsense that has caused the Biden border crisis for the first time.”
Since Biden’s inauguration on 20 January, the US has seen a dramatic increase in the number of people faced by border officials.
According to the Pew Research Center, 18,945 family members and 9,297 unattractive children appeared in February – an increase of 168% and 63%, respectively. This is a major logistical challenge because children, in particular, require high standards of care and coordination in agencies.
Among the reasons for the rise: Thousands of Central American expatriates have already been stuck at the border for months and continued to wreak havoc with gang violence plaguing northern threesome countries – Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Nevertheless, both were less at various points during the Trump administration than among unaffected minors and families, including spring 2019.
Pointing to the urgency of the situation at the border, d. D-Il, Sen. Dick Durbin, expressed confidence that enough Republicans would vote to pass an immigration overhaul.
“We went into this debate, whether it was a crisis or a challenge at the border. Let me tell you, the crisis. We need to address our immigration laws in this country that are broken,” Mr. Durbin said. “What we are seeing on the border is a demonstration of it, a display of evidence in it. But there is more across the board.”
The White House also points to Biden’s decision to deploy the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support efforts to process the increasing number of immigrant migrant children arriving at the border.
Mr. Mayorkas appeared on Fox, ABC This week, Cnn state of the Union And NBC’s meet the Press, While on CNN, Mr. McCall was on ABC and Durbin.
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