White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she had no “response” from President Biden on Wednesday to the heartbreaking video of a crying boy, apparently abandoned on the U.S.-Mexico border, or whether Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the crossing.
During his daily press session, Psaki was asked if Biden had seen and commented on the clip of the boy, who appears to be about ten years old, calling a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was “scared” after being abandoned by a group of fellow migrants and went to defend themselves during the night in the desert.
“I have no direct response from the president,” Psaki said. “What I can convey is that, for any of us who have seen this video, it is heartbreaking.
“It’s a reminder of the betrayal of the trip,” he continued. “And it’s a reminder of how important and imperative it is to implement reforms to our immigration system, to clearly convey how dangerous this trip is, and to take action, like the Central American juvenile program,” to get better care. for young migrants.
Unaccompanied children are often among the tens of thousands of immigrants who have flocked to the border since Biden opened and began easing the more restrictive immigration policies of his predecessor, President Donald Trump.
The youths have ended up confined in narrow, prison-like border detention centers for days waiting to be transferred to federal shelters elsewhere.
In the midst of the crisis, Biden and Harris pledged to visit the border, but neither has continued.
“I don’t have any trips to sketch or preview,” Psaki said Wednesday, when asked why the visits have not been made. “What we look at is solutions and by making sure we have more beds, we make processing more efficient and effective, and that we are addressing it in a humane way that keeps these children as safe as we can.”
Last month, Biden publicly instructed Harris to address the chaos, only for the White House to clarify later that Harris would actually work to address the “root causes” that drive immigration in the long run, not the ongoing cross-crisis. .
But a review of Harris ’work in recent weeks shows little concrete effort on the situation.
Psaki insisted Wednesday, however, that the vice president intends to dodge the problem.
“It’s absolutely an issue for which she remains committed and is at the forefront,” Psaki said. “Being responsible and leading the Northern Triangle is working with these countries in the region, addressing the root causes, working with them on how we can address issues like long-term food insecurity, drought, the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, etc. That’s what he’s focused on. “
At another point in the meeting, Psaki did not rule out the possibility that additional constructions could be made on the border wall, although Biden has long criticized Trump’s pet project and vowed to stop it if it is. elected.
Earlier, it was reported that National Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had privately expressed interest in covering “gaps” in the wall.
Psaki on Wednesday left open the possibility that the construction would not be done definitively, but argued that the administration’s hands are legally bound because funding had already been committed to the project before Biden took office.
“While construction remains stalled, there is an ongoing review that examines the allocated funds,” he said. “There are some components of the wall that had already been allocated funding to continue building by Congress.
“So we’re working within what’s allowed,” he said. “We do not believe that the wall is an answer. We have never believed that the wall is a response to the migratory challenges at the border. “