Biden declared Saturday that “young people” arriving “on the border” was a “crisis.” However, Psaki said at her daily press briefing that Biden actually doesn’t think that.
Biden used the word, which administration officials carefully avoid, while explaining the White House’s Friday resolution not to immediately enhance refugee admissions. He stated conditions at the border made it a bad time to expand eligibility.
“The problem was that the refugee part was working on the crisis that ended up on the border with young people. We couldn’t do two things at once,” Biden stated.
However, Psaki told reporters that Biden actually thinks there’s a crisis in Central America and not at the border, where many young migrants are kept in crowded, jail-like facilities.
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Psaki said, “The president does not feel that children coming to our border seeking refuge from violence, economic hardships and other dire circumstances is a crisis.”
She continued: “He does feel that the crisis in Central America, the dire circumstances that many are fleeing from, that that is a situation that we need to spend our time, our effort on and we need to address it if we’re going to prevent more of an influx of migrants from coming in years to come.”
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Biden last month tasked Vice President Kamala Harris with addressing the “root causes” of the crisis. Harris has spoken by phone with the leaders of Guatemala and Mexico, though she has not gone to the border or spoken with the leaders of El Salvador and Honduras. Last week, Harris announced she intends to visit Latin America, but a date has not been announced.
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Meanwhile, though, Biden’s administration is spending about $60 million a week to shelter illegal immigrant children who cross into the United States from Mexico.
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Recognized as unaccompanied children, caring for the minors has driven the price tag for immigration-related expenses up pointedly as U.S. officials wrestle with the surge that some authorities and Republicans say stems from Biden’s cancellation of key Trump-era policies.
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Over 18,600 unaccompanied children were apprehended after passing the border in March, more than double the number from the month before, sparking fear of a resurgence in MS-13 gang violence and recruitment activity. Almost 18,800 are being housed in Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) facilities as officials attempt to locate a family member or other responsible adult to whom they can send each child.
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The average cost to care for a child in a permanent facility is $290 per day, HHS officials explained. That cost leaps to about $775 per day for children in temporary emergency facilities “due to the need to develop facilities quickly and hire significant staff over a short period of time.”
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