Immigration

Biden says journalists will get ‘full access’ to migrant facilities but is unsure when

Published

3 years ago

March 25, 2021

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President Joe Biden said the press will have “full access” to the migrant facilities near the southern border but couldn’t provide an answer for when that would happen.

At his first formal press conference as commander-in-chief Thursday afternoon, Biden was asked by Kristen Welker of NBC News when journalists will be let into the facilities. Reports of these facilities have described cramped conditions and poor accommodations for migrants—especially unaccompanied children—that have trekked to the U.S.-Mexico border during the massive surge in crossings since January.

“Given the conditions that were just laid out at the migrant facilities at the U.S. border, will you commit to allowing journalists to have access to the facilities that are overcrowded, moving forward?” Welker asked.

“I will commit when my plan—very shortly—is underway to let you have access to not just me, but to other facilities as well,” the president said.

MORE ON THE BORDER: Migrants tell Sara Carter about their harrowing journey to the border

“How soon will journalists be able to have access to the facilities?” Welker pressed him. “We’ve obviously been allowed to be inside one, but we haven’t seen the facilities in which children are packed together to really give the American people a chance to see that. Will you commit to transparency on this issue?”

“I will commit to transparency, and as soon as I am in a position to be able to implement what we are doing right now,” Biden replied, then going on to explain that one of the reasons he has yet to visit the facilities himself is because he doesn’t “want to become the issue” due to his large Secret Service team following him.

MORE ON THE BORDER: Sara Carter obtains whistleblower email describing ‘extremely unsafe and unhealthy’ conditions at migrant facility

“You will have full access to everything once we get this thing moving,” he added.

This didn’t satisfy Welker, who had moderated the final debate between him and then-President Donald Trump and was generally praised for keeping the pair in relatively line.

“Just to be clear,” she pressed, “how soon will that be, Mr. President?”

“I don’t know, to be clear,” Biden replied.

MORE ON THE BORDER: ‘Not today’: Kamala Harris laughs when asked if she plans to visit the border

On Wednesday, journalists were given limited access to a facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas operated by the Department of Health and Human Services, as The New York Post noted. However, the Biden administration has not allowed the press into more overcrowded Border Patrol camps.

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

Immigration

NYC Mayor Adams’ budget cuts slash total number of police and education funds

Published

2 weeks ago

November 17, 2023

Sara Carter Staff

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“No city should be left to handle a national humanitarian crisis largely on its own, and without the significant and timely support we need from Washington, D.C., today’s budget will only be the beginning,” said New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams about his decision to make budget cuts as a result of the overwhelming migrant crisis.

However, those who will suffer from budget cuts to the city’s services to offset the cost of dealing with the ever-increasing number of migrants are those that are in place to make the city better.

“The cuts will see police freeze hiring and bring the total number of police officers below 30,000. It would further slash the education budget by $1 billion over two years and affect a litany of other agencies” reports Just The News.

Albeit, Adams admitted: “In all my time in government, this is probably one of the most painful exercises I’ve gone through.” More than 110,000 migrants have arrived in New York City over the past year, including roughly 13,000 sent from Texas by GOP Governor Greg Abbott as part of his ongoing bussing plan to send new arrivals to the U.S. to sanctuary cities.

However, similar to other leaders of sanctuary cities, Adams is unwilling to put his money where his mouth is. In September, Adams warned that the crisis would “destroy New York City” and begged the federal government to pay for his mess.

“I’m gonna tell you something, New Yorkers, never in my life have I had a problem that I didn’t see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this,” Adams said at the time. “The federal government needs to do its job. We need the federal government, the Congress members, the Senate and the president to do their job: close the borders,” said Adams’ advisor Ingrid Lewis Martin insisted in early October. “And until you close the borders, you need to come on with a full-on decompression strategy where you can take all of our migrants and move them through our 50 states.”