President Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services announced on Friday that a migrant child died in U.S. custody. The department released a statement on Friday regarding the death of the child but did not reveal where the child died,” Fox News reported.
“The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is deeply saddened by this tragic loss and our heart goes out to the family, with whom we are in touch,” the HHS said. “As is standard practice for any situation involving the death of an unaccompanied child or a serious health outcome, HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Division of Health for Unaccompanied Children (DHUC) is reviewing all clinical details of this case, including all inpatient health care records. A medical examiner investigation is underway.”
“Due to privacy and safety reasons, ORR cannot share further information on individual cases of children who have been in our care,” the department said.
It added, “While in ORR care, children have access to health care, legal services, translation services, and mental and behavioral health counselors and are able to connect with family through a phone call in a private area at a minimum of twice a week.”
Migrant child dies in US custody, HHS confirms https://t.co/ONBV9fv5bi
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) May 12, 2023
Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz tore into a “parrot” reporter for trying to blame Republicans, not President Joe Biden’s administration, for the looming border crisis.
Cruz and others held a press conference while visiting the area for the end of Title 42. An unidentified reporter off-camera used the opportunity to try and lecture Cruz over what Republicans have done to help the ongoing border crisis, which has hit historic levels since Biden took office.
“Let me ask you something. What rate of illegal immigration did we have in 2020?” Cruz shouted. “Do you know anything? I asked you a question.”
“How long have you been in office?” the reporter asked.
“I’ve been in office 11 years,” Cruz said as the pair began talking over each other.
“You don’t get to argue with me. You asked your question — you asked your question. You wanna hold a press conference? You can do it over there. You wanna hold a press conference? You can do it over there,” Cruz said.
“I’m gonna answer his question. The talking point of the Democrats, which this media reporter happily parrots, is, ‘Gosh, the problem can’t be fixed!’ There’s one little problem with that. It is an utter and complete lie,” Cruz said.
“In 2020, the last year of the Trump presidency, we had the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years. You ask, what I have done? I’ve championed the men and women of Border Patrol, I’ve championed securing the border. I’ve championed ‘Remain in Mexico.’ And we turned this problem around and solved it,” Cruz added.
“And we went from Joe Biden inherited the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years. And the first day in office, he made political decisions to cause this problem. And you should be ashamed of yourself cause you’re a reporter and you’re not reporting facts, you’re telling lies. Joe Biden made a political decision,” the senator said.
https://twitter.com/alerts___/status/1657036870310666241
President Joe Biden has been criticized from the left and right as officials warn a crush of some 700,000 migrants could rush the southwest border and cross illegally into the U.S. when Title 42 ends.
“Border Patrol shared with us their intelligence that there are approximately 700,000, as of three weeks ago, in the shelters in Mexico waiting to come into the United States,” Jonathan Lines, supervisor on Arizona’s Yuma County Board of Supervisors, said.
He added that border officials had reported a five-fold increase in migrants crossing the Darién Gap, the land route connecting South and Central America.
Brownsville, TX: Migrants open their DHS packets and use their government issued cell phones after being processed and receiving court dates.
Some migrants have shown me that their court dates are as far out as 2027.@TPostMillennial pic.twitter.com/Num7HnHagi
— Tayler Hansen (@TaylerUSA) May 12, 2023
Title 42, a pandemic-related regulation that permits authorities to promptly reject migrants at the border, has expired.
Following its expiration, the Biden administration intends to broaden the catch-and-release system, which will likely see hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants allowed into the country with instructions to appear at an immigration hearing years in the future. Most never show up.
Lines further added that currently, 40 percent of illegal migrants that cross in Yuma are immediately turned away due to Title 42.
Biden, meanwhile, ordered around 1,500 active military troops to the border but their duty won’t be to defend the country. Rather, they will be assigned processing duties to free up Border Patrol and customs agents for enforcement duties, such as they’ll be allowed to perform.
When then-President Trump sent U.S. troops to the border in 2018, now-Vice President Kamala Harris called the decision “political” and “inappropriate.”
It should be noted that Biden appointed Harris ‘border czar’ in March 2021, about a month after he took office, with instructions to deal with what had already become a migrant crisis — which escalated after Biden, on his first day, reversed a slew of Trump-era border security policies.