US President Joe Biden on Tuesday asked the minors and undocumented families who are involved in the latest wave of immigration to the United States to stay in their countries.
“Don’t come (to the United States). Do not leave your town, city or community,” Biden said in an interview with ABC News that will be broadcast on Wednesday, but of which the network announced some parts today.
This was the message that Biden gave to the rise of unaccompanied minors who in recent weeks are crossing without papers from Mexico to the United States despite the closure of the border due to the restrictions of the pandemic.
The White House faces increasing pressure to respond to the plight of the thousands of undocumented minors who are in detention centers run by border authorities or in shelters run by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
According to CBS News, more than 4,200 unaccompanied immigrant children remained until Sunday in short-term detention facilities of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including some not suitable to house minors.
Faced with this situation, Biden earlier this month sent a large delegation of his advisers to visit the border in the state of Texas and has taken several measures, such as mobilizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for 90 days. ) to serve minors.
However, the White House has been reluctant to describe the situation on the border with the word “crisis,” which the Republican opposition does use instead, and insists that it is a “challenge” and a “big problem.”
Asked on Tuesday by journalists, Biden ruled out visiting the border with Mexico “for now”.
The situation is being used as a political weapon by the Republican opposition, which blames Biden and his immigration announcements for the border boom.