UPDATE***
Texas Senator Ted Cruz published images from migrant detention facilities at the US-Mexico border Friday; illustrating the depth of the problem as the Biden administration continues to claim it’s all under control.
“These are the pictures the Biden administration doesn’t want the American people to see. This is why they won’t allow the press. This is the CBP facility in Donna, Texas. This is a humanitarian and a public health crisis,” posted Cruz on Twitter.
These are the pictures the Biden administration doesn’t want the American people to see. This is why they won’t allow the press.
This is the CBP facility in Donna, Texas.
This is a humanitarian and a public health crisis. pic.twitter.com/UlibmvAeGN
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 26, 2021
From Fox News:
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has detailed how a Republican Senate delegation to the border, led by him, encountered human traffickers and cartel members yelling at them and taunting law enforcement — as they saw the crisis at the border up close.
“We have been listening to and seeing cartel members, human traffickers right on the other side of the river, waving flashlights yelling and taunting Americans, taunting the Border Patrol because they know under the current policies of the Biden administration they can flood over here,” Cruz said in a video.
“They’re getting paid $4-5000 a person to smuggle them into the country and… when they smuggle them in, the Biden administration releases them,” he said.
We encountered human traffickers & cartel members tonight, yelling at us across the Rio Grande and preparing to cross. #BidenBorderCrisis pic.twitter.com/yXl3AyUIPd
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 26, 2021
Republicans have been turning up the heat on the Biden administration over its handling of the surge at the border. They say that rapid reversals of Trump-era policies, such as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), and a narrowing of deportation priorities have encouraged migrants to make the often-dangerous journey north.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered more than 100,000 migrants in February and that number is expected to have risen in March. There are currently more than 5,000 migrants in CBP custody and more than 11,000 in Health and Human Services (HHS) custody, and the administration is seeking to open more facilities in a scramble to house them.
Watch the incredible footage above.
BIDEN BRIEFING: GOP Must ‘Decide in Which They Want to Proceed is to Just Decide to Divide’
President Biden held his first solo press briefing from the White House Thursday after 64 days in office; answering questions pertaining to immigration, the Coronavirus pandemic, and working with Republicans.
“I think my Republican colleagues are going to have to determine whether or not we want to work together or they decide in which they want to proceed is to, uh, just uh, ummm, decide to — divide the country and continue the politics of division,” said Biden.
Watch Biden’s comments above.
Original Story below:
President Biden is poised to deliver his first solo press conference with members of the media today shortly after 1PM; ending a nine-week blackout that defies nearly a century of White House tradition.
“During past administrations, it took former President Trump 28 days to hold a press conference, only 21 days for former President Obama, and 34 days for former President George W. Bush,” reports Fox News.
The briefing comes just hours after Biden appointed his Vice President -Kamala Harris- to lead the administration’s response to the spiraling crisis surrounding the US-Mexico border.
“President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he has appointed Vice President Kamala Harris to lead efforts on stemming migration across the U.S.-Mexico border as the administration faces growing political pressure to address a surge in undocumented migrant children unaccompanied by parents,” reports NBC News.
BREAKING: President Biden says he has appointed VP Harris to lead efforts on stemming migration across the US-Mexico border; Harris will focus on coordination with Mexico and the Northern Triangle, Biden says. https://t.co/k5X9SuG7fg
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 24, 2021
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed US President Joe Biden for the massive influx of migrants from Central America moving across the United States’ southern border Wednesday; saying he signaled they would be “treated better” than the Trump administration.
“Expectations were created that with the government of President Biden there would be a better treatment of migrants. And this has caused Central American migrants, and also from our country, wanting to cross the border thinking that it is easier to do so,” Obrador told reporters.
“People don’t go to the United States for fun, they go out of necessity,” he added.
“They see [Biden] as the migrant president, and so many feel they’re going to reach the United States,” said the Mexican President. “We need to work together to regulate the flow, because this business can’t be tackled from one day to the next.”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blames migrant crisis on Biden https://t.co/NixMJK9DrQ pic.twitter.com/AzhRqoVlLC
— New York Post (@nypost) March 24, 2021
Furious Republican lawmakers sent a scathing letter to the Department of Homeland Security this week after the agency reportedly released illegal migrants into the United States without court dates.
“Despite your repeated claims that ‘the border is secure,’ these reports raise serious questions about DHS’ commitment to faithfully enforcing the law,” said the statement signed by 14 legislators.
“Multiple Border Patrol agents confirmed the new process to Fox News, revealing that they have been directed to use prosecutorial discretion to forgo the hours-long process of paperwork required to issue an NTA amid the surge of migrants at the border,” reports Fox News.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
BREAKING NOW: Biden Appoints Kamala Harris to Lead Administration’s Effort at the US Border
**BREAKING NEWS**
NBC News confirmed Wednesday that President Biden has named Vice President Kamala Harris to lead his administration’s effort to stem migration along the US-Mexico border.
“President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he has appointed Vice President Kamala Harris to lead efforts on stemming migration across the U.S.-Mexico border as the administration faces growing political pressure to address a surge in undocumented migrant children unaccompanied by parents,” reports NBC News.
BREAKING: President Biden says he has appointed VP Harris to lead efforts on stemming migration across the US-Mexico border; Harris will focus on coordination with Mexico and the Northern Triangle, Biden says. https://t.co/k5X9SuG7fg
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 24, 2021
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed US President Joe Biden for the massive influx of migrants from Central America moving across the United States’ southern border Wednesday; saying he signaled they would be “treated better” than the Trump administration.
“Expectations were created that with the government of President Biden there would be a better treatment of migrants. And this has caused Central American migrants, and also from our country, wanting to cross the border thinking that it is easier to do so,” Obrador told reporters.
“People don’t go to the United States for fun, they go out of necessity,” he added.
“They see [Biden] as the migrant president, and so many feel they’re going to reach the United States,” said the Mexican President. “We need to work together to regulate the flow, because this business can’t be tackled from one day to the next.”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blames migrant crisis on Biden https://t.co/NixMJK9DrQ pic.twitter.com/AzhRqoVlLC
— New York Post (@nypost) March 24, 2021
Furious Republican lawmakers sent a scathing letter to the Department of Homeland Security this week after the agency reportedly released illegal migrants into the United States without court dates.
“Despite your repeated claims that ‘the border is secure,’ these reports raise serious questions about DHS’ commitment to faithfully enforcing the law,” said the statement signed by 14 legislators.
“Multiple Border Patrol agents confirmed the new process to Fox News, revealing that they have been directed to use prosecutorial discretion to forgo the hours-long process of paperwork required to issue an NTA amid the surge of migrants at the border,” reports Fox News.
“Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Tuesday released photos of crowded facilities, including children sleeping shoulder-to-shoulder on mats on the floor with aluminum blankets and on benches,” adds Fox.
President Biden urged migrants from Central America and Mexico not to travel to the United States this week; shifting tones from his 2019 campaign when urged them to “come” to the country if they’re being “oppressed.”
“They deserve to be heard. That’s who we are,” Biden said at the time. “We’re a nation that says, ‘You want to flee, and you’re fleeing oppression, you should come.'”
Good lord…..
— Sally Tomato (@MrSallyTomato) March 17, 2021
Apparently, the President has changed his views.
"I can say quite clearly don't come over," Biden told migrants amid a border surge https://t.co/nVl1jCwiK5 pic.twitter.com/yO0bKk2hWX
— The Hill (@thehill) March 16, 2021
“I can say quite clearly don’t come over,” Biden told ABC’s George Stephanopolous in an interview last week. “So don’t leave your town or city or community. We’re gonna make sure we have facilities in those cities and towns run by department of — by DHS and also access with HHS, the Health and Human Services, to say you can apply for asylum from where you are right now.”
Read the full report at the New York Post.