Ilhan Omar: The media is losing focus on the border crisis

Ilhan Omar: The media is losing focus on the border crisis

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“I think there are some shortcomings,” Minnesota Congresswoman told CNN Chief Media Correspondent Brian Stelter at “Reliable Sources” on Sunday. “And it is very important for us to show the basics of humanity and address the causes of migration in the region.”

On Saturday, more than 5,000 unaccompanied children were in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to documents obtained by CNN. This news comes at a time when the government of President Joe Biden is trying to rapidly develop solutions to deal with the evolving immigration situation.
The media has focused mainly on the number of unaccompanied children at the border. But Omar is asking the media to address the roots of the immigration crisis and to focus on “cruel and contradictory” foreign policies.

Talks around immigration are currently focused on “earning political points,” said Omar.

“This is not about the safety of Americans,” she added.

Republicans are intensifying their attacks on Democrats because of the ongoing border crisis. Last week, they ran a new advertising campaign that accused Biden of opening the border instead of focusing on opening schools and businesses.

Omar took a stand for his own week, wrote a letter to Biden’s Director of Domestic Policy, Susan Rice and to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, urging the Biden government to issue an Executive Order announcing a plan to phase out contracts between the ICE and the state, county and local prisons and prisons.

On Sunday, Mayorkas refused to provide a timetable for when the Biden government will open new facilities capable of handling the increase in unaccompanied children on the southern border.

– CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez and Michael Warren contributed to this report.

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