On Tuesday, the Biden administration allowed — for the first and only time — cameras inside a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility housing unaccompanied migrant children. What we saw was nothing short of a humanitarian and security crisis.
At the start of Biden’s border crisis, the Biden administration committed to transparency but transparency proved elusive. Now the American people only have a glimpse of what President Biden has been hiding:
Timeline
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February 24: When asked about access to CBP facilities, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki deferred to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
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March 1: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas committed To “openness and transparency” at CBP facilities.
Despite assurances of “openness and transparency,” the Biden administration spent weeks refusing to provide any transparency. The Biden administration was even accused of issuing a “gag order” preventing CBP from sharing information with the media. As the days and weeks went by, the crisis at our southern border intensified while the American people were left in the dark.
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March 6: Senior Biden administration officials visited a CBP facility and a Health and Human Services (HHS) facility in Texas, but no reporters or cameras were allowed to join the delegation to the border.
The Biden administration’s words continued to differ from their actions.
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March 17: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki twice reiterated the Biden administration’s commitment to transparency and media access at CBP facilities.
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March 22: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration remains “committed to transparency,” including greater media access at CBP facilities.
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March 24: The Biden White House allowed just one camera into a HHS facility — but not a CBP facility — during a visit by senior officials and members of Congress. B-roll footage of a CBP facility was provided to the media by the Biden administration, but no independent access had been granted.
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March 24: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said allowing one pool camera into a HHS facility but not a CBP facility was a “first step in providing greater access to the media.”
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March 25: President Biden committed to “full access to everything once we get this thing moving” at CBP facilities.
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March 26: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration remains “committed to increasing access” for reporters at CBP facilities.
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March 28: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reiterated that the Biden administration is “committed” to providing media access at CBP facilities, which the administration had yet to provide.
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March 30: The American people were finally allowed to see inside a CBP facility, after the Biden administration allowed a press pool to view the Donna, Texas facility.
The Donna, Texas facility is extremely overcrowded, housing 4,100 migrants, including 3,400 unaccompanied children, despite a pandemic capacity of just 250 (1,700% capacity).
A report from the Washington Post detailed the extent of this humanitarian crisis:
“The reporters allowed inside described extreme levels of overcrowding, including one detention ‘pod’ with 516 minors despite a pandemic-rated capacity of 32 people. Another pod had 676 minors, and a third had 567, officials said. The Biden administration is on pace to take in more than 17,000 unaccompanied minors this month, far higher than the previous record of 11,861 in May 2019.”
According to the Biden administration’s own estimates, border encounters are on track to top two million this fiscal year, and the Biden administration is bracing for a sustained surge of unaccompanied migrant children crossing the border.
This is a crisis, and the Biden administration has denied the American people the ability to see this crisis for themselves.