Gag order border control9/8/2023 ![]() ![]() Since reporters aren’t allowed to ask Border Patrol or CBP press officers any questions, one of the only places reporters can get information from federal officials is in White House press briefings, where anyone who does ask a question is denigrated by Press Secretary Jen Psaki.įox's Kristin Fisher asked Jen Psaki a basic question if there's "a limit or cap to the number of unaccompanied minors…allowed in," but Psaki went low and personal: "Should we send some kids who are 10 back at a certain point? Is that what you're asking me?" /wzyS9OffgJ In February, Border Patrol arrested nearly 97,000 people along the southwest border, and will likely arrest more than 100,000 in March. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who continues to deny there is a crisis, earlier this month pledged to be transparent with the media on immigration issues but has since denied media access to migrant processing centers, including embedded reporters with congressional delegations that visited the border this week.Įarlier this week, Mayorkas said the United States is on pace to see the largest number of illegal border crossings in 20 years. The media blackout at the border also stands in stark contrast to the Biden administration’s empty rhetoric about transparency. But there has not been “a single one since January 20,” when Biden was inaugurated, one federal official told NBC News. Likewise, CBP routinely approved press requests for ride-alongs with Border Patrol agents during the Trump administration. This stands in stark contrast to the Trump administration, which gave press access to these facilities during its controversial family separation policy in June 2018. Many of these minors are being held for much longer than allowed under federal law. Lawyers who have been inside these facilities and interviewed migrant children housed there report there is not enough food, bed space, or showers. The Department of Homeland Security has not conducted any media tours of several hastily opened shelters for minors, included one in Donna, Texas, that was 729 percent over capacity earlier this month. As of Sunday, CBP had more than 4,200 minors in custody along the border, a record. ![]() The blackout comes as the Biden administration continues to deny there’s a crisis at the border, even as the number of migrant children detained by CBP soars, overwhelming federal facilities ill-equipped to house and care for minors. Officials responsible for gathering data about the number of illegal immigrants in federal custody, they say, have been told not to share that information with anyone to prevent possible leaks. Federal officials along the border, they say, have been verbally instructed-there is no official memo, no paper-trail-to deny all press requests for ride-alongs and refer all media inquiries, even from local reporters, to Washington. ![]()
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