“What we are seeing today is the consequence of four years of dismantling all systems in place to deal with this with humanity and compassion,” said Escobar. She cited officials from the Health and Human Services administration and other departments working to reduce the number of days children are detained before being transferred to licensed facilities and reunited with their families.
Biden reversed a series of Trump-era immigration policies, including the “Stay in Mexico” policy, which defenders say has destroyed the nation’s asylum system and the “zero-tolerance” policy of separating families on the border.
Critics say Biden, who promised a more humane approach to migrants than his predecessor, should have more strongly discouraged migration from Central American countries. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) On “Fox News Sunday” criticized the immigration policies of the Biden administration, saying “empirically, [they’re] entirely “responsible for the increase of unaccompanied minors on the southern border.
In his interview with Escobar, Tapper pointed out a comment by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador earlier this month, that migrants see Biden as the “migrant president, and many feel they are going to arrive in the United States”.
“Isn’t there a degree to which, whatever messages are sent from the Biden government, this is encouraging what is happening and is it encouraging these children to come, creating this tragedy?” Tapper asked.
“As I mentioned in April 2020, under the harshest conditions, a Trump and Covid government, we still saw people coming to our door,” said Escobar. “Even the president of Mexico, that comment, obscures what we have to do, which is what I believe President Biden will finally achieve – which is to address the root causes of migration. We will have this conversation year after year until we have leaders in this hemisphere who are willing to work together. “
Escobar encouraged López Obrador and other presidents in the Northern Hemisphere to coordinate on immigration issues.
“This is a challenge that we have seen for several years. It will not go away – until we fix it,” said Escobar.