Democrats and their cohorts in the media chided President Donald Trump over immigration policies that resulted in holding "kids in cages" and "separating families" at the United States-Mexico border, a claim that lacked nuance. It was something the left repeatedly hammered as inhumane and wrong. But now, roughly six weeks into his administration, President Joe Biden is continuing with a policy that was first established under President Barack Obama.
Biden's holding unaccompanied minors in the administration's "first migrant child facility" – you know, the type of facility that was labeled as "kids in cages" when Trump was in office?
CNN, however, decided to cover the "first migrant child facility" in a way that downplays the severity at the border. Instead of referring to them as "kids in cages," like they have in the past, the network took a more subtle approach.
Via CNN (emphasis mine):
The number of unaccompanied migrant children in US Border Patrol facilities, which are akin to jail cells and not intended for kids, has reached dramatic highs, according to internal agency documents reviewed by CNN, underscoring the urgent challenge facing the Biden administration.
...
As of Monday afternoon, President Joe Biden had not yet been briefed by his top aides on the weekend trip, which included a visit to a facility for unaccompanied migrant children in Carrizo Springs, Texas -- the first facility for migrant children to open since Biden took office.
CNN isn't the only network to use this kind of language. The Washington Post did the same thing when they reported on the facility reopening without COVID precautions. The border is so overwhelmed that the administration is rolling back COVID mitigation efforts, like the number of unaccompanied minors that are being housed. The number of beds went from 50 percent capacity to 100 percent capacity.
What's taking place on our southern border is disgraceful and wrong. Biden's soft immigration policies are the reason people are flocking to the United States, even during a pandemic. The media is just doing the administration's dirty work by downplaying the consequences and severity of what's taking place.
The truth is this: most of the facilities these unaccompanied minors are being housed in are short-term facilities. They're designed to hold drug traffickers for short periods of time while they are being processed. Most have a couple of benches, a toilet and a water fountain. That's it. No beds. No showers. Disease was an issue when this was going on back in 2014 and that was without the pandemic going on. Throw in these unsanitary conditions on top of the coronavirus – which the administration refuses to allow Border Patrol to test for – and you have a petri dish for disaster.
Our men and women that protect our southern border deserve better conditions and for the media to speak the truth about the gravity of this situation.