President Biden ordered senior members of his team to visit the southern border and inform him of how to deal with the recent influx of migrant children, a White House spokesman said on Thursday.
The news of the trip came at a critical time for the government. As another wave of migrants approached the border, Biden was asked how his government was treating children in his custody.
“President Biden asked senior members of his team to travel to the border region in order to provide him with a full briefing on the government’s response to the influx of unaccompanied minors and an assessment of the additional measures that can be taken to ensure safety and care for these children, “said the spokesman.
BIDEN FRONT ADMINISTRATION FOR DRAMATIC INCREASE IN CHILDREN NOT ACCOMPANIED AT THE BORDER
“For security, protection and privacy reasons, the date and time of this visit will remain confidential, but the White House will provide a reading of the visit as soon as it is completed.”
According to Axios, leaked Health and Human Services documents showed that Customs and Border Protection reported an average of 321 children per day – a dramatic increase from the weekly average of 203 seen at the end of January.
Late last month, the White House faced questions about the reopening of an establishment for migrant children in Texas – an apparent betrayal of then-candidate Biden’s 2019 promise not to detain children.
The issue served as a central criticism of former President Trump, as Biden continually lamented how the former government put “children in cages”. When asked about the Texas facility, White House press secretary Jen Psaki argued that “these are not children being kept in cages”.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Detention centers for migrant families in Texas will be converted into rapid processing centers, according to The Washington Post. The Post reported on Thursday that Department of Homeland Security documents showed that the administration intended to examine families with the aim of releasing them in the United States within 72 hours.
A White House official told Fox News last month that Biden’s approach is “to deal with immigration in a comprehensive, fair and humane manner. This government’s policy is not to expel unaccompanied children arriving at our borders. The Border Patrol will continue to transfer unaccompanied children to the HHS Refugee Resettlement Office so that they can be properly cared for in appropriate shelters, in their best interests. “