A growing chorus of lawmakers on both sides of the corridor called on the Biden Administration to allow reporters and journalists to enter facilities that house unaccompanied migrant children who sought asylum on the United States’ border with Mexico.
The call for greater transparency with the American public and those covering it arises at a time when the U.S. is facing a growing humanitarian crisis on its southwestern border, driven by the economic devastation of Central America, of Climate Change, gang violence and political persecution, as well as a new presidential administration.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas predicts that the United States is on track to find more migrants on its southwestern border than in 20 years. Amid the continuing increase in crossings, President Biden said on Sunday that “at some point” he will be going to the border.
Senator Rob Portman, a senior member of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and one of the four senators who accompanied Mayorkas to the border on Friday, told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that he will “absolutely” push for open Customs and Border Protection facilities (CBP) for journalists amid calls for transparency.
“This must be transparent,” said Portman. “It is incredible to me how little my constituents know about what is happening along the border. It is a situation that is out of control.”
Senator Chris Murphy, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, also participated in the trip to the United States’ border with Mexico. The Democratic lawmaker told NPR on Saturday that opening up access to media coverage is “something we should all pressure the government to do better”.
“We want to make sure that the press has access to hold the administration accountable,” he said. “That’s the reason I was there, to hold them accountable. And they saw an increase that started last year, which started under the Trump administration, but is real. It is putting pressure on its resources.”
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On Saturday morning, more than 5,000 unaccompanied minors remained in a CBP tent in southern Texas and at other stations along the border with Mexico. According to government records, unaccompanied children spend an average of 136 hours in CBP custody, well beyond the legal limit of 72 hours.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was also housing some 10,500 unaccompanied children in emergency accommodation facilities and shelters licensed by the states to care for minors, according to the department’s spokesman, Mark Weber.
Another lawmaker on the trip, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security, told The Washington Post on Saturday that more than 200 border agents had been diverted to a Customs and Security Protection processing center. Borders in El Paso look after children.
According to Capito, about 100 migrant children were being held in a large room on the premises amid the coronavirus pandemic, and many are being held in CBP custody beyond the legal limit of 72 hours before being transferred to HHS custody. Capito expressed concern about the excessive stay at CBP’s facilities, noting: “They will move 50 per night [and] receive another 100 that night. “
The Republican senator also told The Washington Post that she reinforced the DHS secretary that reporters should be allowed to enter the border facilities. “I begged him to have so much transparency with us … but also with the press,” said Capito.
In an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Mayorkas cited privacy and health issues by allowing reporters to enter the premises. “Let me be clear, we are in the middle of a pandemic. We are talking about a crowded Border Patrol station, where we are focused on operations,” said Mayorkas.
“At the same time, and I assure you, we’re working on a plan to provide access so people can see what’s going on at the Border Patrol stations, “continued the DHS secretary.” I would encourage people to also consult the Department of Health and Human Services facilities, where children are housed and where they belong and where we are moving them to. “
The delegation’s trip to the border on Friday remained closed to the press “due to the privacy and precautions of COVID-19,” according to the DHS statement.
A Biden government official indicated on Thursday that DHS made an “operational decision” in March 2020 “to discourage visitors” because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and that the rule “still remains”.
Journalists were allowed to enter government facilities to inspect conditions and speak to asylum seekers during previous migrant outbreaks, including during the Trump administration in 2018 and the Obama administration in 2014.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday that the Biden government did not have a deadline for the public to see conditions within the border facilities, amid repeated questioning in the White House meeting room. .
“We remain committed to sharing with you all data on the number of children crossing the border, the steps we are taking, the work we are doing to open facilities, our own bar we are setting up for ourselves, improving the schedule and speeding up and the treatment of these children, “said Psaki, referring further questions to the Department of Homeland Security. “And we remain committed to transparency. I don’t have an update for you on the access schedule, but it is certainly something we support.”
In addition to access to the media, the Biden administration has not provided photos or videos documenting the interior of crowded government facilities that house migrant children in the midst of the public emergency COVID-19.
But the Biden government, including Homeland Security officials, has repeatedly promised to expand transparency and access to the department’s operations since before the president’s inauguration. In his confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Commission on January 19, Mayorkas promised “to raise the level of public engagement, so that we are a transparent agency – transparent not only for the public we serve, but for the media whose responsibility is in part to hold us accountable. “
Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed to this report.