President Biden’s government is facing increased media scrutiny for the lack of transparency surrounding the facilities of migrant children along the U.S.-Mexico border, as the government struggles to gain control over the border crisis.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and a bipartisan delegation of senators are visiting El Paso, Texas, on Friday to assess the increase in migrant children on the southern border, but are preventing access to the media due to “privacy and precautions” of COVID-19 “.
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White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier this week that the Biden government remains “committed to transparency” and providing accurate information about “the number of children crossing the border”, but reporters they were not satisfied with his answer.
“Why do we still not see any images inside these facilities?” asked one of the reporters, noting that Psaki was first asked about media access to the facility three weeks earlier.
Another reporter asked Psaki about an NBC news report that cited two Customs and Border Protection agents who expressed frustration with Biden Homeland Security officials for putting them under what they believed to be a “silence order” to prevent them from speaking to the media, prompting them to respond: “It certainly wouldn’t characterize it that way.”
Human rights defenders also expressed frustration at the lack of transparency coming from the Biden administration on the southern border, saying it is “worrying” that they are not allowing access for defenders seeking to verify the conditions of more than 13,000 migrant children who have been detained at the US border.
“These border facilities are absolutely not a place for children, and it is worrying that there is no longer access to the press and defenders looking for information about the conditions of children in overcrowded facilities,” refugee advocate Yasmine Taeb told The Hill.
Clara Long, associate director at Human Rights Watch, was also concerned. “Transparency must absolutely be part of your Biden administration’s short, medium and long term goals” on immigration issues, Long told The Hill.
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Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows criticized the Biden government on Friday for not being transparent about the border crisis, noting that the Trump administration held “regular briefings” on border security.
“During the Trump administration, not only were cameras allowed, but we had regular instructions on this, mainly because of the way the Trump administration handled the issue and wanted to deal with [immigration]. … They really did have a policy that worked, “Meadows said during an interview with Fox News.
“Don’t you think it’s ironic that they allow cameras to enter a meeting between the United States and China in Alaska, but they don’t allow cameras to enter our southern border? Why is that?”