Whether one considers it a crisis or a challenge, the situation at the U.S. southern border is more than a little concerning. The problem is, Americans just don’t know how much they should be worried. Yes, reports are trickling in, mostly from state officials in the area dealing with the surge in migrants. But, when it comes to anything from the White House, mum’s the word. Apparently, transparency is only encouraged when there’s something good to report.
During February, Joe Biden’s first full month sitting in the Oval Office, there were more than 100,000 illegal border crossings. In January, there were 5,964 unaccompanied children apprehended by border agents. That number jumped to almost 9,300 in February. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials released pictures showing children sleeping shoulder-to-shoulder in overcrowded facilities. Remember all the hoopla surrounding the Trump administration and kids in cages? Even with such allegations thrown his way, the former president was transparent and didn’t obstruct the press or government officials from touring the facilities.
That is not the case today. Biden has said he will check out the scene at the border “at some point.” Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, told reporters that the administration is “working to finalize details” for allowing the press into said facilities. The million-dollar question is why restrict access to the media now? Don’t people have a right to see and fully understand what is happening at the borders of their country? CBP said:
“In order to protect the health and safety of our workforce and those in our care we continue to discourage external visitors in our facilities; however, CBP is working to balance the need for public transparency and accountability.”
Where was this need for protecting workers and immigrants in the past? Is it because the situation is worse now than under Orange Man Bad, and liberals can’t admit the truth? The released pictures are disturbing, showing children practically piled on top of each other, some 400 unaccompanied male minors sleeping in a single pod, while other children sleep on the floor of a tent. The photos of the Donna, TX, facility show a long line of people waiting to use portable toilets that “are apparently being used as restroom facilities for children,” The Epoch Times reported.
The nation has gone from what some would consider in-your-face transparency during the Trump administration to blinders and gag orders during the current president’s reign. So where are the demands from the left for access? Where are the heartfelt cries and crocodile tears for kids being treated so inhumanely? And what about local governments, whose towns are now being overrun with illegal immigrants taking advantage of Biden’s soft guidelines, that are begging the president to reinstate Trump’s effective immigration policies? A few states have already filed lawsuits against the president.
In a small town of about 2,000 citizens in Arizona, the local government is pushing back against the transport of illegals there. Mayor Chris Riggs said Gila Bend doesn’t have the resources to take care of migrants, yet they are being bussed to the area. “Border Patrol let us know that they were going to be dropping migrants that had been detained for 72 hours in our town, which we really didn’t understand because we have nothing here,” he told Fox News. “We have no charity organizations that can help, no non-governmental organizations that a lot of the larger cities and towns do have to assist these people.”
The mayor continued, saying they have not received any federal or state help, so those who have been dropped off in the town are not able to get lodging, food, or COVID testing. He added that about 20 illegals cross into town on foot nearly every day, and the crime rate has been climbing.
The fact that this administration wasn’t going to be as transparent as the former, or even those of previous presidents, was glaringly clear from the beginning, with the U.S. Capitol encased in fencing, patrolled by the National Guard, and citizens barred from the inauguration. Add to that Biden’s failure to provide a State of the Union address and his refusal (so far) to visit the southern border area he plunged into crisis by canceling Trump’s policies. Liberty Nation’s Sarah Cowgill followed up on a story about a constituent who tried to get an answer from the White House about her veteran husband and got the bum’s rush from the operator. The lockdown on information is spreading. It’s only March, but certainly the writing is on the wall.
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Read more from Kelli Ballard.
