This past weekend, we learned more information about the seriousness of the crisis taking place along the southern border:
BREAKING: Backlog of migrant children in Border Patrol custody soars to 4,200, with 3,000 held past legal limit https://t.co/YEEXsGOhDN
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 14, 2021
According to an internal CBP document reviewed by CBS News, the migrant holding facility in Donna, Texas was at 729% capacity last week.
These migrant children were interviewed two days ago: https://t.co/xxFjvXsw0T
— Camilo Montoya-Galvez (@camiloreports) March 13, 2021
“They all said they wanted to shower more and were told they couldn’t.
“One of them shared that he could only see the sun when he showered, because you can see the sun through the window.”https://t.co/WW212CrcfC
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 14, 2021
This surge in migrants being detained at the border is a direct result of the Biden Administration’s policies and executive orders:
Even Democrats are pointing out the fact that the Administration’s policies have exacerbated this crisis and they are also criticizing them for not taking action to address what’s happening:
- CNN: “Texas Democrat calls for urgent change at the border”
- Fox News: “Texas Democrat knocks Biden delegation over border visit: ‘They didn’t talk to anybody'”
While the Administration still refuses to label this situation a “crisis,” they announced late yesterday that they would be directing FEMA to assist in the housing of the growing number of migrants flooding the border:
DHS chief directs FEMA to assist in ‘government-wide effort’ to house child migrants, as number surgehttps://t.co/V4pxFRkIwM
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 14, 2021
In response to this announcement, the top Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, Rep. John Katko, issued the following statement:
“If FEMA is involved, it’s a disaster by definition. If the Secretary is tasking FEMA to help on the southwest border, it further demonstrates the severity of the situation. You can expect strong oversight from our committee on how exactly FEMA dollars will be spent on this self-inflicted crisis and what other activity may be de-prioritized as a result. I have serious concerns that this will strain a FEMA workforce and budget that is already spread thin – with a pandemic response ongoing and the Atlantic Hurricane season less than three months away.”
The Administration cannot continue to credibly claim that this is not a crisis while deploying FEMA to help address it. If they are serious about actually ending this crisis, they not only need to admit that one exists, but they must reverse the policies they have put in place that created this situation in the first place.