White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked again today when the Biden administration will allow reporters to tour overwhelmed Border Patrol processing facilities and Health and Human Services shelters housing thousands of unaccompanied minors.
"Question about the situation on the border. It's now been three weeks I think in this room you were first asked about getting us some press access. Why have we still not seen any images inside these facilities?" a reporter asked.
"We remain committed to doing that and I think, these facilities are overseen, HHS of course oversees the shelters. DHS oversees the Border Patrol facilities and we want to work with them to ensure we can do it respecting the privacy and obviously the health protocols required by COVID," Psaki said. "We remain committed to transparency. I don't have an update for you on the timeline for access."
In addition to press being completely shut out of facilities on the border, reporters have also been barred from ride alongs with Border Patrol agents and they are not allowed to answer questions about the ongoing crisis.
Townhall reporter Julio Rosas was scheduled for a tour of a facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, but was turned away after his name was already listed for approved access.
"The trip had been planned through Rep. Chip Roy's (R-TX) office and I was told everything was in place for me to tour the facility with Roy and his staff. Myself and a team from Breitbart News were told to get our temperature checked and be issued a KN95 mask. Once that portion was over we were told to wait outside to get a COVID-19 test. Once the test confirmed we were not sick, the tour would start shortly after that," he reports. "But then, the demeanor from the facility's staff changed. We were told to wait in an area away from Roy's people. A media person with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wrote our names down, with her remarking she had seen my name on the manifest, before walking away to confirm if we were to be allowed to accompany Roy. After a few minutes of waiting, she came back to inform us we were not allowed inside and we had to leave."
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