We thought it was news earlier this month when we learned the CDC gave the go-ahead for President Biden to fill his migrant overflow facilities to 100 percent capacity due to “extraordinary circumstances,” even though the recommendation to halt the spread of the coronavirus was 50 percent.
That was March 5; now it’s March 30 and the number of unaccompanied minors has climbed exponentially. They’re busing planeloads of teen girls to the San Diego Convention Center, and 500 unaccompanied teen boys will arrive Tuesday at an “emergency intake site” at Fort Bliss.
Reporters were allowed to tour a temporary border facility in Texas Tuesday, and CBS News’s Nicole Sganga tells us what they saw:
THREAD — Reporters toured the temporary border facility in Donna, TX today.
The Biden admin allowed pooled coverage for the first time.
We saw a “pod” designed for 32 migrant children under CDC guidelines now holding 615.
The facility is at 1700% pandemic capacity.
?:TV Pool pic.twitter.com/cJTPUAxXmc
— Nicole Sganga (@NicoleSganga) March 30, 2021
Unaccompanied migrant children ages 4 months – 9 years old are now being held in the recreational area around the clock because there’s no just room for them in the dormitory areas. pic.twitter.com/AlUqJbcmEa
— Nicole Sganga (@NicoleSganga) March 30, 2021
The outdoor recreational area is being used to stage COVID testing before unaccompanied migrant children are transferred to HHS facilities.
We counted more than 50 COVID positive (and largely asymptomatic) kids waiting for their quarantined bus right next to a soccer game. pic.twitter.com/QYRe5ncF46
— Nicole Sganga (@NicoleSganga) March 30, 2021
More than 2000 migrants at the temporary processing facility in Donna, TX have been here for over the legal limit of 72 hours.
Senior CBP officials told reporters more than 1200 migrants are processed and waiting to be transferred to HHS facilities. HHS has nowhere to put them. pic.twitter.com/l3YVDKsg1Z
— Nicole Sganga (@NicoleSganga) March 30, 2021
Recommended
At least 39 unaccompanied migrant children have been in the temporary processing facility for more than 15 DAYS, Acting Executive Officer for RGV Operational Programs Division, Oscar Escamilla, told reporters.
The legal limit is 72 hours. pic.twitter.com/UUe3HQHYjE
— Nicole Sganga (@NicoleSganga) March 30, 2021
We’re old enough to remember the outrage at the Trump administration for holding minors for longer than 72 hours.
Raul Ortiz, Deputy Chief of U.S. Border Patrol, told reporters CBP agents now see “self-separation” by families expelled under Title 42.
Unaccompanied migrant children re-cross the border without their parents so they can seek legal asylum within the United States. pic.twitter.com/P5IG5So1jH
— Nicole Sganga (@NicoleSganga) March 30, 2021
So adults bring their kids across the border, get kicked out, and immediately send their kids back unaccompanied to seek legal asylum. Didn’t candidate Joe Biden during a Democratic primary debate tell asylum seekers they should “immediately surge to the border” upon his election?
Deputy Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, Raul Ortiz, told reporters @CBP anticipates *more than 1 million encounters* of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in FY 2021 alone. pic.twitter.com/BAZHhtsZdi
— Nicole Sganga (@NicoleSganga) March 30, 2021
It cost $6.1 million to stand up the processing facility in Donna, TX, according to Acting Executive Officer, Oscar Escamilla.
It should cost $6 million per month for @CBP to run the facility at its 250-person capacity.
It’s so overcrowded that it costs $16 million per month.
— Nicole Sganga (@NicoleSganga) March 30, 2021
Pool reporters stumbled upon 27 unaccompanied migrant children and young families outside of Mission, TX.
One mother of a two-month old recounted to @cbsmireya how she fled Guatemala in a raft because there was just too much violence and poverty to stay. pic.twitter.com/l5otcTtN6U
— Nicole Sganga (@NicoleSganga) March 30, 2021
Reporters passed the Anzalduas International Bridge in Mission, TX, where dozens of migrants still appeared to be assembled underneath.
We asked to stop, but were not permitted.
Border agents told us @CBP does not intend to hold migrants there for more than a couple of hours. pic.twitter.com/3Mb3n3imAj
— Nicole Sganga (@NicoleSganga) March 30, 2021
So the family gets returned across the border and then they send the child alone to cross because that’s the only way to get through border security… there’s definitely a crisis at the border.
— Greek Dude (@GreekDude4) March 30, 2021
The game is to get the children into the US with legal status. Then they can start the chain migration process and get their family members in legally. Chain migration has to be stopped. These children are being used/abused.
— Ele Zor (@ezorweb) March 30, 2021
We’re also old enough to remember all the think-pieces published demonizing Trump for warning of chain migration.
Someone please explain to me how in the world this is more humane than Trump policies? It’s much more dangerous for the children and all for future votes. This is just downright evil.
— Press Secretary’s Ushanka (@BeenLucky7) March 30, 2021
As Republicans and all Conservatives have warned.
— Brian Goodlife ?? SuperStraight Sneetch (@BrianGoodlife) March 30, 2021
Biden's presidency
In less than 60 Days pic.twitter.com/e4NzdfzD3D— Ron (@ruok2_day) March 30, 2021
Related:
‘Keep the staff safe’: WH’s stated reason for restricting media access to border patrol facilities slammed as an ‘audacious lie’ https://t.co/RhqXV0i40N
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) March 28, 2021
Join the conversation as a VIP Member