White House is declining after Biden calls the border situation a ‘crisis’

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The president’s use of the “crisis” label does not represent the government’s official stance, the White House said Monday in reference to a term that top government officials have declined to say as migrant numbers increased.

“We’re going to increase the number. The problem was that the refugee section was working on the crisis that ended with young people at the border and we couldn’t do two things at once. And now we’re going to get the numbers,” Biden said.

On Monday, the White House attempted to downplay those words, claiming that Biden was referring to conditions in the Northern Triangle countries where migrants come from and not to the increase in migrant children in US custody.

“No, there is no change in position. Children coming to our border to seek refuge from violence, economic hardship and other dire conditions is not a crisis,” a White House official told CNN.

The official said Biden was “referring to the crisis in Central America – the dire conditions from which so many are fleeing. He was not referring to the response of the federal government.”

The official added, “ The federal government’s response and process has been focused on finding solutions that will help us address these root causes, increase capacity, and quickly transfer children to family members. facilities, and ultimately united with family members or sponsors who are safe and vetted. “

White House press secretary Jen Psaki made the same distinction later Monday afternoon.

“The president does not believe that children who come to our border to seek refuge from violence, economic hardship and other dire circumstances are a crisis. He believes that the crisis in Central America – the dire conditions where many for flights – that is a situation that we have to spend our time or effort on and we have to address it if we want to prevent more migrants from coming in in the coming years, ”Psaki said at the news conference on Monday.

Biden’s use of the word crisis to describe the situation at the border came after Psaki, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and Roberta Jacobson, the senior administration overseeing the border, all refused to label it as such during the month. March. It was something Psaki and others were pushed for by reporters on at least nine occasions.

The numbers of migrants at the southern border increased steadily in the first weeks of the Biden administration, with more than 100,000 migrants found at the US-Mexico border in February, rising to over 172,000 in March.
That increase included an increasing number of families and children. The number of unaccompanied minor children in the custody of US Customs and Border Guards, an agency not intended to care for children for long periods of time, reached dramatic highs during the month of March.

Psaki refused to “put new labels on it” when asked if the government had a crisis at the border on February 25.

On March 1, Mayorkas emphatically said “the answer is no” when asked if there was a crisis, but instead said there is a “challenge at the border we manage”.

On March 2, Psaki reiterated that the government would “tackle this without labeling.” She again refused to describe it as a crisis on March 5, March 9 and March 10 when she was asked directly if she would attribute the word ‘crisis’ to the situation.

On March 9, more than 3,200 unaccompanied minor children were in custody, according to internal bureau documents reviewed by CNN.

Jacobson echoed that attitude on March 10, saying, “I’m not trying to be cute here, but I think the fact is, we should do what we do, no matter what anyone calls the situation.”

On March 11, with approximately 4,500 children in CBP custody, Psaki told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, “It doesn’t matter what you call it. It’s a huge challenge.”

On March 18, Psaki briefly described the situation as a “crisis at the border”, but asked later in the briefing if there was a change in the government’s opinion, clarifying that there were “challenges at the border”.

Psaki, pressured again on March 22, said: “Children who present themselves at our border who are fleeing violence, who are fleeing persecution, who are fleeing terrible situations are not a crisis. We feel it is our responsibility to humanely and ensure that they are treated and put in conditions that are safe, “and the government said the focus was on” solutions. “

The number of children in CPB custody peaked at nearly 5,800 on March 28. That number has dropped significantly since then as the administration has stepped up efforts to transfer the children from CBP’s prison-like facilities to the Department of Health and Human Services. , a department better equipped to take care of them. As of last week, there were 2,515 children in CBP custody, indicating progress has been made in relieving border patrol posts.

But the mean time in CBP custody for unaccompanied migrant children is still well above the legal limit of 72 hours, hovering around 122 hours, according to data obtained by CNN.

HHS oversees a migrant child shelter network and has opened a series of pop-up sites to house children until they can be released to a sponsor, such as a parent or relative, in the United States. As a result, the number of children under HHS custody has grown, with 19,798 children under HHS custody as of last week.

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.

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